Collapse of newly constructed 15-metre-high tank water tank in Surat; 7 arrested

Surat Rural Police on Wednesday arrested seven people in connection with the collapse of a newly constructed water tank at Tadkeshwar village in the district.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took a serious view of the incident at a cabinet meeting in Gandhinagar and ordered strict actions against the contractors and officials.

Three labourers were injured in the incident which took place on Monday evening.


"Contractors of Jayanti Super Construction, Mehsana, the JV contractor, and the PMC agency Mars Planning Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad, along with site engineer and executive engineer of the Water Supply Department were arrested," said an official release.

Efforts were underway to apprehend Deputy Executive Engineer Jay Chaudhari, it added.

The 15-metre-high tank, constructed at a cost of Rs 21 crore, collapsed before being put to public use.

It had been filled to capacity with nine lakh litres of water for testing purposes when the incident took place.

Labourers Anguri Aad, Anjali Aad and Kalita Vachaliya sustained injuries.

The Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board lodged a complaint at Mandvi Police Station and a case was registered under sections 316 (Criminal Breach of Trust), 318 (cheating), and 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Those arrested were identified as Babu Patel, Jasmin Patel, Dhaval Patel, Jayanti Patel, Babu Manilal Patel, Jigar Prajapati and Ankit Garasiya.

"Chief Minister Patel gave strict instructions to punish all the officials and contractors for the lapses. He also instructed not to compromise on quality in any construction project," said state spokesperson and minister Jitu Vaghani after the cabinet meeting.