Days after 36 people lost their lives in the strategic stepwell collapse incident in Indore’s Beleshwar Mahadev Temple, the municipality has finally taken strict action against illegal encroachments. On April 3, bulldozers removed the illegal structures of the temple built on government property.
VIDEO | Four days after the stepwell roof collapse at a temple in Indore claimed 36 lives, the local administration launched a drive on Monday morning to remove encroachments from the religious complex and move the idols of deities to another shrine. pic.twitter.com/uIRhBS8BhR
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 3, 2023
As per reports, on the morning of April 3, Monday, the local administration reached the Temple with bulldozers and several officials. The idols of Hanuman and Lord Shiva were worshipped and shifted to another Temple as per Hindu rituals.
Action has also been taken against illegal encroachments around 3 more religious structures in the city, as per reports.
Temple had illegally occupied over 10,000 sq feet area, old stepwell was covered up with rods and tiles
As per reports, it was known among locals that the Temple trust had built illegal structures around the old religious shrine. An old Bavdi or stepwell was hastily covered up, with just rods and tiles, without filling it up. As a result, the hollow space and the well existed while the Temple carried out its rituals. On Ram Navami, as the crowd gathered in large numbers, the tiles collapsed under the weight, killing 36 persons and injuring dozens.
The stepwell has now been covered up by dumping debris in it. As per the reports, over 10,000 square feet area of a public garden was encroached upon to expand the Temple. The authorities have removed the encroachments.
#WATCH | Indore temple stepwell collapse: To ensure safety, a construction there has been demolished. It was constructed without abiding by rules: Additional Commissioner, Indore Municipal Corporation pic.twitter.com/rwWrHJuLwo
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) April 3, 2023
“We have removed all illegal constructions in the public garden to ensure the safety of citizens. The Bawdi has been filled with debris so that no accident takes place,” Siddharth Jain, the additional municipal commissioner of Indore was quoted as saying.
A new Temple that was being built alongside the existing place has also been demolished.
FIR against Temple Trust president and secretary
The Indore Police have booked Sevaram Galani, the president of the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust, and secretary Murli Kumar Sabnani under section 304 of the IPC (multiple homicides not amounting to murder). They have been accused of carrying out unsafe and illegal construction work and ignoring the directives of the municipal corporation to remove the illegal structures. Sabnani himself was injured in the March 30 tragedy.
2 officials of the Indore municipal corporation have also been suspended for negligence of duty.
Local leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad reportedly objected to the demolition drive, calling it illegal.
