Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 31: The death toll in Thursday’s Indore temple accident has gone up to 36 with more than 20 bodies recovered from the “bawdi” (stepwell) during the overnight rescue operations.
The accident was caused when the slab put on the mouth of the stepwell on which the temple was built collapsed taking with it scores of people standing on it to watch a “havan,” a fire ritual, organised on the occasion of “Ram Navami” on Thursday.
Official sources admitted that over 40-year old stepwell roof at the Beleshwar Mahadev temple could not sustain the weight of a large crowd which turned up in the temple for the Ram Navami.
“Two people returned home safely after getting treatment. The search operation to trace persons reported missing is underway,” Indore Collector Ilayaraja T said on Friday. “The 18 hours long rescue operation started at around 12:30 PM on Thursday is still continuing,” he added.
Managed by a private trust, the temple is located at Sneh Nagar, one of the oldest residential colonies in Indore. Sources have said the tragedy could have been averted had the Indore Municipal Corporation acted on the complaints filed by residents.
The local residents showed a copy of a municipality notice to the Beleshwar Mahadev temple’s trust in April 2022 over complaints by locals who alleged that the temple was built on a stepwell in an encroached park. The municipal body had marked the well’s cover for demolition but backed down after being warned by the trust that such a move will hurt religious sentiments.
On Ram Navami, a havan was being performed on the concrete slab covering the stepwell which also served as the platform of the temple. The concrete slab was not strong enough to hold the weight of 30-40 people, resulting in devotees plunging into the 40-foot-deep stepwell.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are engaged in the rescue operations. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced ₹ 5 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and ₹ 50,000 to those injured in the freak accident.
Earlier in the day the Chief Minister said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered into the incident. “FIR was registered, and the magisterial inquiry was ordered into the incident. Action will be taken against all those found responsible. The current priority is the rescue operation. The injured will be treated free of cost. PM has also announced the ex-gratia amount to the victims. We have ordered an inspection of such step-wells and borewells across the state,” said Mr Chouhan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Mr Chouhan to take stock of the situation. The Beleshwar Mahadev temple was constructed after covering the stepwell about four decades ago.