The search operation which gathered pace after Army’s help, resulted in the retrieval of 21 more bodies, taking the total death toll from Thursday’s tragedy to 35 by early morning of Friday.
BHOPAL: A Day after tragedy triggered by the collapse of the roof of a bavdi (stepwell) on Ram Navami festival in Indore, engulfed at least 35 lives and caused injuries to 16 others, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Indore.
Chouhan met with the injured, including two little twin sisters at a private hospital and then went to the tragedy site to take stock of the rescue operations, which are likely to end after tracing the last missing devotee, 53-year-old Sunil Solanki.
After taking stock of the search operation which is being carried out by an Indian Army in association with NDRF and SDERF teams, the CM said, “Directions have been issued to conduct state-wide survey and enquiry of all such covered bavdis and kuwans (step-wells and wells) to ensure there is no repetition of Thursday-like tragedies.”
The search operation which gathered pace after Army’s help, resulted in the retrieval of 21 more bodies, taking the total death toll from Thursday’s tragedy to 35 by early morning of Friday.
The deceased included 20 women aged between 24 and 84 years, 12 men aged between 26 years and 65 years and three children, including two boys aged two years and eight years and a 13-year-old girl.
The search operations gained momentum, after the process of dewatering the well (bearing water up to 13-14 fts).
According to unconfirmed sources, minister colleagues of the CM, including home minister Narottam Mishra and water resources minister Tulsi Silawat and Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava, who went to meet the kin of the deceased and injured at a community hall in the residential colony where the mishap had happened, had to return hastily following angst and slogan shouting of those present there.
Importantly, a magisterial probe has already been instituted into the entire tragedy.
Also, a criminal case u/s 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) has been registered at the Juni Indore police station, against the chairman and secretary of the private trust which managed the affairs at the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhoolelal Temple – where the tragedy happened on Thursday.
On Thursday, while the state government had announced Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased devotees and Rs 50,000 for each injured, an ex-gratia sum of Rs 2 lakh each was announced from the PM National Relief Fund for the next of kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 to each injured.
