Water tank collapse: MP minister, Bhopal Mayor face protests

The minister had to beat a hasty retreat after he arrived at the site in Saibaba Nagar where the mishap took place in the wee hours today.

Bhopal Mayor Krishna Gaur also faced the angry protests and left in jiffy, area corporator Praveen Parmar told reporters.

"When the local administration informed the Minister and the Mayor about the accident why did they take so long to arrive? Everybody knows that it would have taken them only ten minutes to reach the spot from their respective residences," he said.

Seven persons were killed and 35 others injured when an overhead water tank caved in on Saibaba Nagar slum at around 1 AM.

According to some of the affected persons, the minister in-charge for Bhopal district Jayant Mallaiya and local MLA Dhruv Narayan Singh also arrived at the spot quite late. "The mayor arrived in full make-up," they alleged.

Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Kantilal Bhuria and Opposition Leader Ajay Singh alleged that despite the local corporator bringing to notice of the civic body the leakage in the tank a number of times, the concerned engineer failed to take any corrective measure.

They demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

Meanwhile, District Collector Nikunj Shrivastava has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

Bhuria also demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the victims. (More)