Indore temple tragedy was waiting to happen!

As many as 35 people were killed after the roof of a stepwell collapsed during a 'havan' ritual organised at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Patel Nagar area of Indore in Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of Ram Navami. A search operation is currently underway to trace one missing person, an official said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited the tragedy site and promised strict action against the culprits.

How did it all happened?

There was heavy rush of devotees in the temple due to Ram Navami. To get a glimpse of the rituals going on, many unsuspecting devotees crowded the top of the old 'bawdi' (stepwell) near which the temple stands. Unable to bear their combined weight, the slab constructed on the top of the stepwell gave in, plunging several devotees into the water below.

The rescue operation was initially hampered as the temple was built in a narrow space and a wall had to be broken to lower a pipe to pump out water from the well, officials said. Eyewitnesses said that the process of recovering bodies from the stepwell and sending them to hospital for post-mortem intensified only after 11.30 pm on Thursday.

An eyewitness told news agency PTI that during the religious program, there was a huge crowd of devotees at the temple and the slab caved in as it could not bear the load. Local residents said the temple was constructed about four decades ago after covering the square-shaped ancient stepwell of around 20 ft x 20 ft in size.

Tragedy foretold

According to TOI report, Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) had marked the stepwell's cover for demolition, saying it was "dangerous" but had to back down after being warned that it would "hurt the religious sentiments."

On April 23, 2022, IMC issued a show-cause notice to the temple trust pointing out at the dilapidated condition of slab and illegal constructions around in and around the temple. According to report, the park-garden was encroached first by building a water tank and then by building a temple on the stepwell.

Another temple is being allegedly built close to the existing one by encroaching the same land. However, the temple trust secretary denied any encroachment and accused the civic body of interference in religious matters, which would hurt sentiments as the temple is 100 years old.

Questions are now being raised as to how did the administration allow construction of a slab atop an ancient stepwell. According to reports, the stepwell was at least 50 years old and that the temple next to it is an old structure which was later renovated to accommodate the step-well area by simply covering it.

The head priest of the temple Laxminarayan Sharma said the roof was constructed without any concrete support by putting stone slabs and concrete by fitting iron rods.