Indore temple tragedy: MP CM orders officials to find out wells, stepwells having constructions on them

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said he has directed the administration to find out if there were any wells and stepwells in the state over which constructions have been carried out by covering them in a dangerous manner. According to him, the state will also inspect borewells to see if they have been closed or not.

His comments come a day after the floor of the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal shrine in Indore, which was constructed on top of a stepwell known as a "bawdi," collapsed, murdering 35 people. The stepwell was a square shape, about 20 feet by 20 feet in area, and was covered when the temple in Patel Nagar, where the disaster occurred, was built about four decades ago.

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On Friday, CM Chouhan went to the location and assessed the situation. Prior to that, he also paid a call to the private hospital where 16 victims of the event who were injured are being treated. State Home Minister Narottam Mishra was also present with him.

Chouhan described the 35 fatalities in the shrine disaster as a regrettable tragedy and promised that the state government would punish those responsible.

The chief minister announced that "the administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident and police have registered a case." "We will determine responsibility after the investigation, and action will be taken against the guilty," he said.

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The CM claimed that he has ordered the authorities to determine whether any wells and stepwells throughout the state have been covered in a hazardous way or have had building done on them.

Additionally, he continued, borewells will be checked to see if they have been covered or left exposed. "We want to make sure that the catastrophe that occurred at the temple in Indore does not happen again. If any well, stepwell, or borewell on privately owned or public property is discovered to be in a dangerous state during the inquiry, action will be taken against the landowner or official in question," the chief minister said.