A 70-feet-high water tank constructed by the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) collapsed at Civil Township here on Monday morning damaging the Wesco office located nearby.
Two persons, including a woman, were injured while around 50 motorbikes and bicycles parked near the tank were damaged in the mishap.
“We heard a loud noise and everybody in the office came out.
This perhaps saved us. But all the files and other articles in the office have been damaged,” said a Wesco employee.
The 9-lakh-litre-capacity water tank constructed in 1975 was in a dilapidated condition, locals alleged, adding that water was still being supplied through it to several localities in the Civil Township area.
local residents have blamed the engineers of the PHED for not snapping the water supply to the tank despite the structure being ‘unsafe’.
Sources said the officials of the concerned department were aware about the ‘unsafe’ condition of the structure as a new overhead water tank was being constructed close to the collapsed structure.
locals also alleged that there are over 30 water tanks in the steel city that were built some 50 years ago and all such old public utilities should be immediately abandoned for the safety of people living close to such structures.