Time we started being proactive and not reactive

Representational image. Pic/Istock

More than 35 people have died after the roof of a ‘bawdi' (well) collapsed during a ‘havan', on Ram Navami recently at a temple in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. There is the usual ‘probe' ordered into this huge tragedy. Financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for every injured person has been announced.

This temple was constructed by laying a slab over the bawdi. The probe is going to focus on how a temple was allowed to be constructed over a bawdi.

This though is central to our problems and tragedies. It is the tendency of always ‘reacting' to incidents rather than a will to prevent them in the first place.
The site should not have been greenlighted at all, as a temple cannot be constructed over a well. Then, if for some mysterious reason it was allowed there should have been just a minimum number of people who should have been allowed, as the structure most reports say could not bear the weight of so many people.

If this design and construction was not allowed to go ahead at all, we would not have had this tragedy. Obviously, there has not been enough research work prior to building this, or, simply that this has been rushed through or maybe there has been some aspects that were overlooked, we do not have the answers yet.

Yet, it is typical of the scenario where dangerous or shoddy work is allowed to go ahead and then, there is some unfortunate incident after which questions are asked about why this was allowed to come up or made in a certain way in the first place. We tend to be reactive rather than proactive when it comes to infra, building practice and amenities.

We need to be absolutely certain about safety at the go-ahead stage for all projects.