BHUBANESWAR: A Ganesh idol immersion ceremony ended on a tragic note in Bhubaneswar’s Jatni on Saturday night when a slab of a roadside building collapsed on spectators gathered beneath it, leaving one man dead and nine others injured, with police probing allegations that blaring DJ music and the intense vibrations generated by it may have triggered the structural failure.Police identified the deceased as Chintu Barik (30), a resident of Jatni. Of the nine injured, six were undergoing treatment at different hospitals in Bhubaneswar, while three others were discharged. The condition of the injured was stated to be stable.According to police, the incident occurred around midnight when a large crowd had gathered to watch the immersion procession. A decorative slab over a window of a roadside building, which houses a public sector bank, suddenly collapsed on the spectators.“We shifted 10 injured persons to hospitals. One of them later succumbed to his injuries,” Additional Police Commissioner Narasingha Bhol told TOI.Police officials said the building was around 40 years old and the collapsed slab had remained exposed to rain over the past few days.“We are investigating allegations by locals whether vibrations from DJ music played during the procession contributed to the collapse. Building engineers are already examining the structure to ascertain the circumstances leading to the incident,” Bhol said.Locals alleged that police failed to effectively regulate the volume of music during the procession. “More than 50 Ganesh idols took part in the procession and most of them played loud music. Though police were present at the spot, they did not intervene,” a local resident said.Police, however, denied the allegation. “We came across sound-limit violations by some organisers and promptly intervened. The DCP himself stopped some organisers from playing loud music. This led to altercations between police and some organisers,” Bhol said.
