Lord Ganesha, also called the Lord of Wisdom, Vighnaharta, Sukh Karta, Dukh Harta and many more holy names, is Himself seems to be in sort of a trouble at one of His abodes – the Tekdi Mandir. The structural age of the world renowned Tekdi Ganesh Mandir is at its completion end. Or one can say it is at alarming stage. Most parts of the temple structure are in dilapidated condition, and beyond repairs, too. With this poor state, one year could be more than enough to see the mandir structure standing tall. If not demolished in between the temple structure is sure to grab the headlines screaming “Tekdi Ganesh Mandir caves in.” This is dreadful possibility one cannot avoid if……
Nagpur: The structural audit of the famous Tekdi Ganesh Mandir, a place of faith for millions and millions of devotees, done last year has come out with the mind-numbing fact. The fact is that the temple has completed its stipulated age and now is in dilapidated condition. And evidences of this disturbing fact are also coming to the fore. One of the portions of the temple has given up. The roof is counting days over a supporting tower. But the more distressing fact is that no move is visible to correct the wrong despite the alarm bells ringing, loud and clear.
In a sort of damage control exercise, the entire roof of the temple was given lease of life with the support of a tower soon after receiving the structural audit report. In fact, the iron towers have been erected right below the beams situated at the four corners of the temple. The reason is that the age-old beams of the age-old temple have rusted and hollowed. But according to the engineers, who carried out the structural audit, the ‘dilapidated’ roof is burdening the supporting tower itself, slowly and steadily. A dreadful situation in the offing, truly speaking.
The main portion of the Tekdi Ganesh Temple is depicting ‘everything is all right.’ However, the cement plaster of its surrounding walls and balcony or gallery is getting roughed up and the pieces shower the devotees. Recently, to force the authorities to spend sleepless nights, a portion of balcony at entry gate came down crashing with a thud. Luckily no one was injured. Even though the management of the temple, as a precautionary measure, do demolished some portions of the structure to prevent a tragedy but everything is not fine.
Temple structure constructed in 1975:
According to an office-bearer of Tekdi Ganesh Mandir Samiti, the construction of the structure was done in 1975. One of the political leaders at that time had donated 200 bags of cement. But since cement was not being used rampantly at that time, a material called ‘Sagol’ was mixed in the construction material. The mixing of the ‘Sagol’ stuff did not give the required strength to the structure. Hence, during rainy days, the damage to the structure or collapse is always a possibility, the office-bearer stated with worry writ large on his face.
Audit report:
A reputed structural engineer, on the specific demand of the Temple Committee, had carried out the structural audit of Tekdi Ganesh Mandir in July last year. During the audit period, engineering scanning of the entire temple was done. The vibration level, solidness, building age and other parameters were inspected. The subsequent audit report revealed that the age of the structure is coming to an end. With the battering by rains, over 60 percent structure has been rusted. The penetration of carbonation of concrete has also come to the notice. The porches behind the temple have got decayed and degraded to the extent that they may collapse anytime. According to the audit report, the structure of the temple has reached an alarming stage and needs to be demolished within a period of one year. Moreover, there is also no scope for repairing exercise. The only choice left is to bring down the structure and erect the new one.
Ganapati Bappa Morya!!
