Officials in Maharashtra’s Thane city said a corrugated steel sheet overhead water tank ruptured early Saturday morning, destroying at least six homes and damaging another fifteen.

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A 75-year-old woman was seriously injured in the incident that occurred in Rupa Devi Pada, a hamlet situated on a hillock in Wagle Estate area, after which she was hospitalised, they said.

An officer from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), which constructed the tank in an open area in the hamlet in 2009, stated the tank’s capacity was 75,000 litres.

“Around 6.30 am, the tank placed on an elevated structure in Rupa Devi Pada suddenly burst and water gushed out with tremendous force and entered the houses located nearby. As a result, 21 houses were damaged and six of them were completely destroyed,” Avinash Sawant, chief of the TMC’s Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC), said.

When the RDMC and the Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) were notified, they went to the scene and began the relief effort, he said.

“An elderly woman, identified as Tanubai Muthe, suffered serious injuries in the incident and was admitted to a hospital,” he said.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde represents the area in the Kopri-Pachpakhadi Assembly seat.

(With inputs from PTI)