One dies, another injured after a water burst

• Tank burst when water was being filled for the first time

Badagannur: A person lost his life, while another person suffered a fracture of one of his legs after a water tank burst as water was being filled into it for the first time. The incident took place at Papemajalu in Ariyadka village here on Saturday night January 26^th.

The tank was built under the ‘Ganga Kalyana’ scheme of the government to provide water for irrigation and drinking purposes to hamlet.

The deceased person is identified as Ramesh alias Rama (30), son of Angara and Devaki couple from Papemajalu. He was the eldest of the three children of the couple. He leaves behind his mother, brother, and a sister.

Rama’s family was depending on his wages through his work a coolie is now left hanging without options. Meanwhile, Madhava who sustained grievous injuries has been admitted to a hospital.

Apparently, the sub-standard tank was five feet high, six feet wide and although it was built 6 years back, water had never been pumped into the tank so far. An attempt to fill water into the tank had been made a few months back, but it was found that the wall of the tank had developed cracks. Once the cracks were sealed, the integrity of the tank was checked by filling it with a little water a few days. Since there was no leak, it was decided that the tank be filled to be brim on Saturday night.

The incident

At around 11:30 pm in the night, four young men climbed atop the tank which had no stairs or ladder, curious to check the water level in the tank when the incident occurred. Their additional weight along with the water in the tank collapsed the integrity of the water tank which came crashing down on the peepers. In the melee, a laterite stone fell on Ramesh’s chest while another fell on Madhava’s leg. The injured were rushed to the government hospital immediately. As both  of them were being shifted to Mangaluru for further treatment, Ramesh lost his fight for life.

The location of the incident has been visited by zilla panchayat member, Anita Hemanath Shetty, taluk panchayat president, Radhakrishna Borkar, gram panchayat president, Savita, panchayat development officer, Padmakumari and panchayat members. Sampya rural police station sub-inspector, Sattivelu, and others visited the spot, examined the site and have registered a case in this connection.

Ariyadka panchayat development officer Padmakumari said that the tank was built by social welfare department for the benefit of backward class families living here. the work was executed by the contractor Lingappa and was being maintained by the people of the colony. The panchayat is in no way connected with this scheme; she said and added that steps to build a new tank would be taken in the next action plan of the panchayat.