A major tragedy was narrowly averted on Thursday afternoon when the balconies of five decades-old municipal corporation shops suddenly collapsed near the busy Jawahar Chowk area. The incident triggered widespread panic among shopkeepers and pedestrians, who scrambled for safety as debris rained down on the street. While no casualties were reported, several vehicles and commercial goods were damaged in the mishap. The structural failure affected a cluster of civic body-owned shops, including Mohammad Naeem’s bike repair center, two photo frame shops belonging to Anoop Singh Rathore, Kalimuddin’s CCTV outlet, and Satish Kumar Yadav’s sports goods store. According to the affected shopkeepers, the structures are approximately 40 years old and have been in a state of decay for a long time. Business owners alleged that despite being regular rent-payers, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has consistently ignored necessary maintenance and repairs.

 

“The building has been weak for years. We were lucky that my staff member had stepped out for supplies just minutes before the collapse; otherwise, he could have been seriously injured or worse,” said Mohammad Naeem, whose workshop saw several customer vehicles partially crushed under the falling concrete. A section of the business community has linked the structural failure to the ongoing Bhopal Metro project on the main road fronting the shops. Shopkeepers claimed that heavy drilling and excavation carried out during the night generate intense vibrations, which they believe have progressively weakened the foundations of the ageing buildings. However, they clarified that no active construction work was underway at the exact moment of the collapse. Following the incident, local MLA Bhagvandas Sabnani and Councillor Jagdish Yadav visited the site to assess the damage. The leaders interacted with the distressed shopkeepers and assured them that the administration would provide necessary assistance.

 

The MLA has instructed civic officials to conduct a safety audit of the remaining structures in the area to prevent similar incidents. “We are committed to ensuring the safety of the traders and will look into the grievances regarding building maintenance and the impact of nearby construction,” Sabnani stated. “Some people have alleged that the collapse of the shops occurred due to the ongoing metro construction work, but this claim is incorrect. The metro project is being carried out with full adherence to safety standards, and no such incident has been reported anywhere due to metro construction. The shops where the incident occurred are reportedly very old, around 40 years old. Therefore, the matter primarily falls under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation. The Metro project has no connection with this incident. Our construction work is continuing while strictly following all safety and technical norms.” -Dheeraj Shukla of Metro Project.