The Madhya Pradesh government has announced a solatium of Rs 1 lakh to each person who suffered injuries in the fire at Mahakal temple in Ujjain on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the incident and wished for speedy recovery of the injured persons.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav along with Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya visited the injured persons at hospitals in Indore and Ujjain and said free treatment would be provided to all victims. Talking to presspersons, Yadav said, “It is an alarming call. A major tragedy was averted today. We will take steps to ensure that such incidents don't happen again. I have ordered a magisterial probe.” The chief minister also offered prayers at the temple. Yadav said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu contacted him over the phone and enquired about the health of the victims.
As many as 14 persons including priests suffered injuries after a fire broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of Ujjain’s Mahakal temple during the early hours of Monday. According to authorities, the incident happened around 5.50am, while bhasma aarti was being performed at the temple. Authorities said the fire broke out after gulaal (coloured powder), thrown inside the sanctum sanctorum fell over burning camphor in puja thali and chemicals present in gulaal are believed to have caused the blaze.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the incident. “The incident that happened in Mahakal temple of Ujjain is very painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this incident. The local administration is engaged in every possible help to the victims under the supervision of the state government,” Modi tweeted.