• Source:JND

Indore Water Contamination Update: At least 142 patients, including 11 in ICUs, remain hospitalised amid a widespread diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura. Health teams screened 9,416 residents across 2,354 households, identifying 20 new cases on Sunday. Authorities confirmed six deaths so far. Since the outbreak began, 398 patients have been admitted, with 256 discharged after recovery and the rest still under treatment, PTI reported.

Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Madhav Prasad Haasani stated that a team from Kolkata’s National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (NIRBI) has reached Indore to investigate the ongoing health crisis. He added that NIRBI experts are assisting the health department with technical guidance to help control the outbreak.

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Death Toll And Public Outrage

Authorities have so far confirmed six deaths due to the diarrhoea outbreak in Indore, although Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava had earlier reported 10, and local residents claimed that 16 people, including a six-month-old infant, had died. Amid growing anger over the fatalities, the Congress party held bell-ringing protests across Madhya Pradesh, demanding the resignation of senior minister Kailash Vijayvargiya. The controversy stems from Vijayvargiya’s use of the word “ghanta” on December 31 when responding to reporters’ questions about the water contamination crisis in Indore.

Congress has called for a judicial inquiry and the dismissal of Vijayvargiya, who oversees the Urban Development and Housing portfolios, since Bhagirathpura, the outbreak’s epicentre, falls under his Indore-1 assembly constituency. State Congress president Jitu Patwari threatened to launch an agitation on January 11 if corrective measures were not implemented. 

Patwari also demanded registering a culpable homicide case against Mayor Bhargava and concerned civic officials, describing the deaths as “murder of the mandate” given to the BJP in the previous elections.

Residents of Bhagirathpura had reportedly been complaining for the past eight months about contaminated water from municipal taps, with allegations that even water delivered via municipal tankers is unsafe.

Administrative Failures And Systemic Issues

1. A sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Dewas was suspended for issuing an official order that allegedly copied a Congress memorandum criticising minister Kailash Vijayvargiya’s remarks, with Ujjain division revenue commissioner Ashish Singh citing serious negligence, indifference and irregularities in official conduct.

2. The Congress memorandum accused the BJP government of authoritarianism and strongly objected to the minister’s language, escalating the political controversy surrounding the incident.

3. Renowned water conservationist and Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh termed the outbreak a “system-created disaster” rooted in deep corruption, expressing shock that such a crisis occurred in Indore, repeatedly ranked India’s cleanest city.

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4. Officials confirmed sewage overflow had contaminated the water supply, causing widespread vomiting and diarrhoea, while Singh warned that cost-cutting pipeline placement near drainage lines and declining groundwater levels continue to endanger public health.

(With PTI Inputs)


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