MP: Indore Municipal Corporation fills stepwell at temple where 36 people died last week after its floor collapse; demolishes illegal structure of temple too

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 3 : Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) filled the stepwell of the temple with building materials where 36 people died last week after its floor collapsed and also demolished the illegal structure of the temple on Monday, an official said.

The stepwell floor collapse incident occurred at Beleshwar Jhulelal Mahadev Temple located in Patel Nagar in the city on Thursday (March 30). A 'Hawan Puja' was going on in view of Ram Navami festival in the temple at the time of incident.

Around 200 Municipal Corporation employees, officers and police force were present on the spot in the morning to remove the illegal structure of the temple constructed by encroaching over the garden land of Sneh Nagar locality. The police barricaded the entire area before the JCBs, bulldozers and dumpers reached the spot.

Additional Commissioner of Indore Municipal Corporation, Siddharth Jain told , "An incident occurred on Ram Navami in which 36 people had died. So to ensure safety for the future, the illegal construction has been removed. The old temple built on the stepwell and a new under construction temple located nearby it were also removed."

There was the illegal construction of 1000 square metres of both the temples. The idols were removed first according to the rituals and then demolition action was taken, he said.

Apart from this, the illegal construction on stepwell at the other places in the city are also being removed so that such an incident should not occur again. Around 200 officers of Municipal Corporation and District Administration were deployed on the spot, Jain added.

Notably, Bajrang Dal workers had come to protest for the removal of the temple construction, but the police stopped them before the spot. Some local people also reached there to protest but the police convinced them too and drew them back.

Speaking to , Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Abhinav Vishwakarma said, "100 policemen were deployed from nearby police stations. Bajrang Dal workers and local people came to protest but there was no hindrance in the demolition action. The structures were removed peacefully."