6 idols collapse at Ujjain’s Mahakal Lok corridor, investigation ordered

Six out of the seven idols of ‘Saptarishis’ installed at the Mahakal Lok corridor, developed on the premises of Mahakaleshwar temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, collapsed and suffered damages due to gusty winds on Sunday, but nobody was injured in the incident despite the presence of a large number of visitors, officials said.
The facility was shut for a few hours following the incident that occurred around 4 pm, they said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said he had ordered an inquiry into some idols of the Mahakal Lok corridor in Ujjain getting damaged in a storm.
“I am getting the matter inquired and have sought a report,” Chouhan told reporters on the sidelines of an event to mark nine years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the first phase of the Mahakal Lok corridor project in October last year.
The incident gave ammunition to the opposition Congress to hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, as it accused corruption in the project and demanded a probe into the “sub-standard” quality of construction.
“There are a total of 160 idols installed at the Mahakal Lok corridor, out of them six idols of ‘Saptarishis’ (seven sages) that were around 10 feet tall fell down around 4 pm as strong winds swept through the area,” Ujjain Collector Kumar Purshottam said.
After that, the corridor was immediately closed. But when it was reopened at 7 pm, a large number of visitors again thronged the place, he said.
These damaged idols were not located inside the Mahakaleshwar temple, but in the Mahakal Lok corridor developed around it, he said, adding that they will be restored. Another official said, “The corridor is spread across around one km. When the idols collapsed, the premises were packed with visitors, but nobody was injured in the incident.”
Gusty winds, which were responsible for the episode, killed two persons elsewhere in Ujjain, he claimed. He said that the companies from Gujarat have been engaged in the work of creating the idols and constructing the corridor.
The total cost of the Mahakal Lok project is Rs 856 crore with the first phase costing Rs 351 crore.