Kamal Ghorui
SURAT: Police here arrested eight persons — including two govt officers — on Wednesday, over the collapse of the newly-built overhead water tank in Tadkeshwar. They will be produced in court on Thursday. Those arrested are contractors Jayanti Patel (61), the owner of Jayanti Super Construction Pvt Ltd, Mehsana; and his partner in the contract, Babu Patel (61). Babu’s son Jasmin (32) and son-in-law Dhaval (35), both of Babulal Patel Company, were also arrested. Employees of Ahmedabad-based project management consultancy Mars Planning and Engineering Services Pvt Ltd, the head of supervision Babu Mani Patel (63) and site supervisor Jigar Prajapati (34), were also arrested.Also read | Three GWSSB officers are suspended for overhead tank collapseGujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board (GWSSB) executive engineer Ankit Garasiya and deputy engineer Jay Chaudhary were also arrested. Police will book and arrest others incriminated in the investigation. The accused have been under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property or valuable security) and 125(A) (acts done rashly or negligently that endanger human life). A team of engineering experts from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, and Gujarat Engineering Research Institute (GERI), Vadodara, have begun an inquiry to find the cause of the collapse. “Further investigation will be done by police based on the technical report from SVNIT and GERI. Testing of material used and other technical details will be verified,” said Rajesh Gadhiya, superintendent of police, Surat. The investigation has been handed over to deputy superintendent of police B K Vanaar. “The accused will be produced in court and the further action will be decided based on what evidence emerges,” said Vanaar. The 15-metre-high overhead water tank had a capacity of 11 lakh litres. During testing, about 9 lakh litres of water had been filled over two days before the structure collapsed. The tank was part of a Rs 21 crore project for a water distribution network covering 14 villages. The tank cost Rs 1 crore, of which Rs 83 lakh had already been paid.
