Toll rises to 36; culpable homicide case registered

Bhopal/Indore: The death toll in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore stepwell roof collapse incident rose to 36 on Friday while 18 injured are getting treatment in a hospital. The president and secretary of the temple trust were booked under culpable homicide sections.

The incident occurred on Thursday around 12:30 pm after a slab collapsed into the ‘Bawri’ (stepwell) at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in the city’s Patel Nagar area where more than 60 devotees were offering ‘Havan’ on the occasion of the Ram Navami celebration.

“Unfortunately, 36 devotees died in the incident and 18 people were rescued by the teams who were deployed for the rescue operations. The injured people have been admitted to a local hospital for treatment”, Collector of Indore Ilayaraja T told Millennium Post.

Two people returned to their homes safely after getting treatment, the collector said.

The collector also said that so many people assembled near the stepwell to perform ‘Havan’ and the overcrowding on the roof of the ‘Bawri’ could be the reason that led to the collapse of the slab. The stepwell is said to be built decades ago and a roof was constructed to cover the well nearly 30 years ago and installed ‘Shivlinga’ on it, the slab was built with thin iron rods, red stones and mortar materials, the collector added.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and district in-charge and Home Minister Narottam Mishra visited the incident site on Friday and met the injured in the hospital. They also visit the kins of the deceased. Earlier on Thursday, CM Chouhan announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 Lakh to the next of kin of the deceased while Rs 50,000 will be given to the injured.

CM Chouhan ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. An FIR has been registered under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide) against the president and secretary of the temple trust.

“Strict action will be taken against the responsible. The injured will be treated free of cost. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also announced ex-gratia to the victims”, Chouhan said. “We have ordered an inspection of such stepwells and borewells across the state”, the CM said.

The rescue operation ended after the last possible devotee was rescued, in which a team of 75 army personnel along with NDRF and SDRF were engaged to rescue the people who were trapped in the stepwell.

Former MP CM and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh visited the incident site yesterday to meet the victims. “The slob has been constructed without the permission of the Municipal corporation, several complaints have also been made for so but due to political influence no action has been taken”, Digvijay tweeted on Friday.

“At the ancient public temple, the influential people have encroached. A judicial inquiry should be conducted into the incident and criminal cases have been registered against the responsible”, he also tweeted.

PM Modi will be on a visit to Bhopal on Saturday to inaugurate the Vande Bharat Express which is going to start on April 1 between Rani Kamla Pati Railway station to New Delhi. The PM will also be addressing the military top commanders’ conference being held in the city, during his visit to the state capital.

A grand roadshow of PM Modi was planned by the state unit of the BJP to welcome him for giving the fastest train to the state but due to the Indore incident, it has been cancelled.