Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) continued with its drive to remove illegal encroachments on bawdis (stepwells) and wells in the city for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, five days after a bawdi at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple caved in killing 36 people and injuring 18 others.
Removal gang of IMC armed with JCB and poclain machines reached at three different wells/bawdis on which illegal constructions had been done and removed the same.
A well of eight-metre diameter leading to the building of Choithram School was covered with a slab for traffic movement. The removal gang removed the roof of the well and directed the authorities concerned to cover the well with an iron grill and construct a boundary wall around the water body.
Similarly, the removal gang reached Parasrampuriya School located in Zone No 2 and removed a slab constructed on a well and instructed the institute to put a grill at sufficient height for covering the water reservoir. The IMC also directed the school authorities to construct a boundary around the well.
The removal gang also removed an illegally constructed slab on the well located at Street Number 8 in Nehru Nagar area. The IMC stated that a grill would be put to cover the well at the site.
“We do not want to close the wells and stepwells in the city following the Beleshwar Mahadev Temple tragedy as the water reservoirs are important for increasing the groundwater level. But we want to make the water bodies safe for human lives. So, we are asking private and government players to cover the wells and stepwells with strong iron grills,” said Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav.
On Monday also, the IMC had removed encroachments over stepwells and wells at four localities including at the bawdi on Beleshwar Mahadev Temple premises.
The roof of the bawdi at the Beleshwar Temple collapsed on March 30 when a havan was being performed at the shrine on the occasion of Ram Navami killing 36 people and injuring 18 others.
The incident had sent shockwaves across the country forcing the IMC to demolish illegal encroachments across all bawdis and wells across the city.
I was also invited to Beleshwar Temple: MLA Akash
Indore-3 MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, who is the son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, stated that he was also invited to the Beleshwar Temple for attending havan on Ram Navami. “I had to attend one more religious function before attending the Beleshwar Temple programme. I was at Chhawani, around 200 metres from the accident site when the tragedy took place,” junior Vijayvargiya said.
