Water tank collapses in Nitish's home block in Bihar

Patna, Feb 22 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ambitious project "Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal" received a jolt after an overhead water tank collapsed in Basti village under Harnaut block in Nalanda district on Monday.

Ever since the tank was established eight months ago by Public Health and Engineering department in Kumar's home block, the villagers have been complaining abut the quality of the construction material used in it.

But Abhay Singh, Junior engineer of PHED, contested such claims: "During investigation, it appears that some anti-social elements opened the nut bolts of the tank, leading to its collapse."

"We are investigating the incident and will soon identify the accused," he added.

However Singh admitted that a number of overhead water tanks had collapsed in Mudhari, Silaw, and other adjoining villages in Harnaut block.

One of the pet projects of the Nitish Kumar government, the objective of the Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal project is to provide drinking water to every household at the village level.