Tonk Kalan (Dewas): When Bina Bai, 30, chose not to go to work on Thursday morning, her decision was driven by faith rather than any specific reason. Instead of heading to the firecracker packaging factory as she usually did, she dressed up early and walked to Kalma village for the final day of the consecration ceremony at the newly built Shri Ram Darbar temple.
Explosion at the Factory
Barely an hour later, a massive explosion ripped through the factory along the Agra-Mumbai national highway. The blast killed three workers and left at least 25 others injured, several critically. As smoke billowed and news of deaths reached the crowd of devotees gathered just 500 meters away, Bina Bai sat among hundreds of worshippers, quietly reflecting on how her morning decision may have saved her life.
"Everyone from our village had planned to come for the ceremony today," she said. "If we had gone to work instead, many more people from here would have died."
Workers' Testimonies
The sentiment was echoed by many women at the temple. Neha Patel, 22, and her mother Soram Bai Patel, 55, had actually gone to the factory first, working for nearly three hours before leaving midway to attend the program. "I don't know what would have happened if we had stayed there," Neha said. "We only left because of the ceremony. It feels like God saved us."
Like dozens of women from Kalma and surrounding villages, the Patels worked as daily wage laborers at the unit, earning Rs 250 a day. According to workers, the factory employed between 300 and 400 people, including many women from nearby areas, primarily for packaging work. Workers handling chemical-related tasks had been brought in from outside.
Community Response
The coincidence of the temple ceremony and the explosion led villagers to soberly calculate how many more could have been inside when the blast occurred. Balbeer Singh Rana, a member of the temple's organizing committee, said nearly 100 to 150 people connected to the factory were present at the temple at the time of the explosion. "Had they all been at work at that moment, the tragedy could have been much bigger," he said. "People here truly believe their lives were spared because they were here today."
Temple Ceremony Details
The five-day yagya and consecration ceremony had been a significant community effort. The temple, spread across nearly four bighas and built at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore, was constructed through donations from farmers, laborers, and villagers from Kalma, Tonk, and surrounding areas. It houses idols of Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman, Lord Mahadev, Guru Vashishth, and Maharishi Valmiki.
However, the celebrations came to an abrupt halt as news of the blast spread through the crowd. Several women broke down upon learning that relatives and co-workers might still be trapped inside the factory. The shobha yatra was stopped immediately.
Dala Bai, 45, who had been waiting days for the final ceremony, captured the mood simply: "Nobody imagined such a tragedy would happen at the same time."
Organizers and villagers later offered prayers for those killed and for the recovery of the injured.
