A section of the Shahi Masjid minaret in Ujjain collapsed onto the mosque roof on Thursday morning while it was being dismantled for the Kanthal–Gopal Mandir road-widening project linked to Simhastha 2028. No injuries or casualties were reported, officials said.
The affected portion of the mosque at Chhatri Chowk was being removed because it falls within the road-widening zone. Community members had begun dismantling the minaret from the third floor, with scaffolding installed to lower sections of the structure. The collapse occurred while one section was being lowered.
City Qazi Khaliqur Rehman said the incident followed a technical problem with the crane being used for the work. He said the crane strap broke while the section was being brought down, causing it to fall onto the mosque roof. Rehman said the minaret had not been deliberately brought down and that the damage occurred during the dismantling process.
“We were doing all the religious work with our own hands. Now it was time to bring down the minaret, and for this we had sought help from the administration, and the administration helped. Due to a technical snag of the crane, its strap broke. Because the strap broke, the minaret fell on the roof,” he said.
Rehman appealed for calm and asked people not to gather at the site or spread claims that could create tension. He said the mosque committee and the representative committee had been working together during the process and that the structure would be rebuilt after the work resumed.
District Collector Raushan Kumar Singh said the affected portion was being removed as part of the road-widening work when the incident took place. He said nobody had been hurt, nobody was trapped and people should not pay attention to rumours. Officials reached the site after being informed and held discussions with community members.
As a precaution, authorities have restricted movement within a 500-metre radius of the mosque. The area has been barricaded and sealed, while police personnel have been deployed. Workers who were on the scaffolding were reported to be safe.
The incident occurred as Ujjain prepares infrastructure works associated with Simhastha 2028. The reported collapse has temporarily placed attention on the safety arrangements for dismantling a structure inside a congested urban area, including crane operations, scaffolding and movement controls. Authorities have not announced a revised schedule for the road-widening or mosque-related work in the supplied report.
