The water contamination crisis in Indore deepened on Sunday with 142 people currently hospitalised, including 11 in intensive care units, even as fresh diarrhoea cases emerged during large-scale health screenings in Bhagirathpura, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Health officials said 20 new patients were detected after medical teams screened 9,416 people across 2,354 households in Bhagirathpura, where six deaths have been officially confirmed due to consumption of contaminated drinking water. In total, 398 people have been admitted to hospitals since the outbreak began, of whom 256 have been discharged following recovery.
Authorities maintained that the situation is now under control, though hospitalisations continue. Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Madhav Prasad Haasani said a team from the Kolkata-based National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections has reached Indore to investigate the outbreak and provide technical support to contain it.
While the district administration has confirmed six deaths, the toll remains disputed. Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava has claimed 10 fatalities, while local residents allege that at least 16 people, including a six-month-old child, have died.
The crisis has triggered sharp political reactions. The Congress held bell-ringing protests across Madhya Pradesh, demanding the resignation of senior minister Kailash Vijayvargiya after he sparked controversy by using the word “ghanta” while responding to reporters’ questions on the crisis on December 31. The Congress termed the remark insensitive and demanded a judicial inquiry, along with Vijayvargiya’s removal from office. Bhagirathpura falls under his Indore-1 assembly constituency.
State Congress president Jitu Patwari warned of a statewide agitation from January 11 if corrective measures were not taken. He demanded the registration of a culpable homicide case against the Indore mayor and concerned civic officials, alleging that residents had been complaining about contaminated tap water for the past eight months without action. He further claimed that even water supplied through municipal tankers remained unsafe.
Amid the escalating controversy, a sub-divisional magistrate in neighbouring Dewas was suspended on Sunday for allegedly reproducing portions of a Congress memorandum verbatim in an official order related to law and order arrangements during protests. Ujjain division revenue commissioner Ashish Singh said the action was taken for serious negligence and irregularities in official conduct.
Renowned water conservationist Rajendra Singh, a Magsaysay Award winner popularly known as the “Waterman of India,” described the deaths as a “system-created disaster” and blamed deep-rooted corruption. Expressing concern that such a crisis could unfold in India’s cleanest city, he warned that the condition of drinking water systems elsewhere could be far worse.
Government officials have acknowledged that sewage overflow entered drinking water pipelines, triggering severe cases of vomiting and diarrhoea. Singh alleged that cost-cutting practices, including laying water pipelines close to drainage lines, and falling groundwater levels have made cities like Indore increasingly vulnerable to such crises.
