Houses damaged, elderly woman injured as water tank bursts in Thane

An elderly woman was injured and six houses were destroyed while 15 others were damaged after an overhead water tank burst in a hillock in Wagale Estate, Thane, on Saturday morning; the storage capacity of the tank, which had been installed in an open space by the Thane Municipal Corporation in 2009, was 75,000 litres

An elderly woman was injured and six houses were destroyed while 15 others were damaged after an overhead water tank burst in a hillock in Wagale Estate, Thane, on Saturday morning.

The spot where the 75,000-litre capacity water tank burst in Wagale Estate, Thane, on Saturday morning. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

The water storage capacity of the tank, which had been installed in an open space by the Thane Municipal Corporation in 2009, was 75,000 litres.

The incident occurred in Wagale Estate that falls under the Kopri-Pachpakhadi Assembly constituency represented by CM Eknath Shinde.

Tanubai Muthe, 75, was seriously injured in her limbs and back, and is currently hospitalised. Muthe was lying down in her home adjacent to the tank when the incident occurred.

“At around 6.30am, the tank placed on an elevated structure in Rupa Devi Pada suddenly burst and water gushed out with tremendous force. The water started entering houses through the rooftops, damaging the houses on the slope. Overall, 21 houses were damaged, six of them were completely destroyed,” said Avinash Sawant, RDMC chief, Thane.

As this was a water storage tank and the pipelines are not impacted, the city won’t be facing any water cuts or scarcity of water post this incident.

The rooftops of most houses were damaged completely while in some houses the walls were also damaged.

Laxman Muthe, son of the injured, said, “We heard a loud blast and within seconds, water started entering our house. Some of our neighbours were already rushing outside the house at the sound of the blast. However, as my mother was lying down and could not get up and run immediately, the water that entered the house with full force caused injuries to her. We are not sure what exactly hurt her.”

TDRF and RDMC officials were at the spot conducting relief work on Saturday morning. This small settlement is situated atop a hillock.

“This tank was ideally built amidst an open area. But, in the last few years, many illegal settlements like these slums have been built around the tank,” said a TMC officer.