NEW DELHI: At least 10 people have died while more the 1,400 are affected due to a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in Bhagirathpura area of Madhya Pradesh’s Indore.“According to health department data, four people have died due to the diarrhea outbreak in Bhagirathpura. However, I have received information about 10 deaths due to this outbreak,” Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava told PTI.
Madhya Pradesh CM also issued a statement assuring action and ordering removal of Additional Commissioner from Indore, and In-Charge Superintending Engineer from duties.This comes after – according to officials – a leakage was found in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura, at a spot over which a toilet has been constructed. They claimed the leakage led to contamination of the water supply.According to locals, one of the victims, who was just six-month-old, died after he fell sick due to alleged consumption of contaminated water.According to the family, the child fell ill with diarrhoea on December 26 and was taken to a local doctor, who prescribed medication. The family brought the child back home after check-up, but on December 29, the infant suffered a high fever and died at home.What we know so far
- Residents of the Bhagirathpura began reporting to hospitals across the city from Monday onwards, complaining of vomiting, high fever and diarrhoea.
- Officials said the contamination occurred after sewage water from a toilet constructed at a local police check post seeped into the drinking water line.
- After the outbreak, laboratory tests confirmed that the diarrhoea outbreak was caused by contaminated drinking water.
- According to Indore’s chief medical and health officer Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani, the report was prepared by city-based medical college.
- It claimed that the water collected from Bhagirathpura were contaminated due to a leak in a main supply pipeline.
- However, officials were yet to identify the specific bacteria responsible.
- Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav issued a statement saying, “Following the stern action taken against the responsible officials in connection with the tragic incident caused by the supply of contaminated drinking water in Indore, we are also taking corrective measures for other places in the state. For this purpose, instructions have been given to the concerned officials to prepare time-bound programs. In this regard, a virtual meeting of the mayors, chairpersons, and commissioners of all 16 municipal corporations, along with district collectors, officials from the health department, urban development department, public health engineering department, and other relevant headquarters-level officials, has been convened this evening. In this meeting, a review of the entire state will be conducted, and necessary instructions will be issued.”
- The CM had also issued directions to get the Additional Commissioner from Indore, and to relieve the In-Charge Superintending Engineer. “This morning, I reviewed the actions being taken by the state government in the Indore contaminated drinking water case with the Chief Secretary and other officials, and issued necessary directions. I also discussed the report presented by the Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Administration and Development).I issued directions to the Indore Municipal Corporation Commissioner and Additional Commissioner to issue a charge sheet notice in this regard, to immediately remove the Additional Commissioner from Indore, and to relieve the In-Charge Superintending Engineer of the duties of the Water Distribution Works Department. I also issued directions to fill the necessary posts in the Indore Municipal Corporation with immediate effect,” said the CM.
- Bhagirathpura, meanwhile, remains largely deserted. With more than 200 residents admitted to 27 hospitals across Indore, most families have been away attending to sick relatives.
- After repairs and inspection, clean water was restored through the pipeline on Thursday. However, residents have been advised to boil water before consumption as a precaution.
- Meanwhile, residents of Indore’s Bhagirathpura area remain afraid of consuming even the tanker-supplied water following a contaminated drinking water incident that left several people ill and claimed lives.
- Despite assurances from the municipal corporation and the deployment of water tankers, locals said that they didn’t have trust in the water supply system.
- “We had been complaining about dirty water for several days, but no one was listening and several people were falling ill. My daughter, Kanak Lashkari (15), is currently admitted to the Arvindo hospital. My mother, aged 93, fell ill on December 24, but after treatment she has now recovered. We are now buying water for drinking, and for other uses, we rely on government boring water. The municipal corporation is supplying drinking water via tankers, but we are afraid to consume it. We no longer have trust in this supply. This is destruction being carried out in the name of development,” a local resident said.
- Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya stressed that micro-checking in the entire colony is in progress and will be completed in 8-10 days. “There were possibilities of contamination of water with sewage; therefore, treatment had already begun earlier, and the same treatment continues now. Micro-checking is underway across the entire colony and will take 8 to 10 days…”, he said.
