Water contamination kills 3 in Indore: Hospitals see rush of patients; warning issued to 15,000 residents

INDORE: A day after residents in Bhagirathpura area of Indore took ill with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming contaminated water, three people admitted to different hospitals died on Tuesday.


Chief minister Mohan Yadav termed the incident extremely tragic and announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the deceased with an assurance to bear cost of treatment of all hospitalised. Chief minister paid tribute to the deceased and wished for the speedy recovery of those undergoing treatment.




About 15,000 people live in the area where contaminated water was supplied. Several new patients including women and children were rushed to the hospitals during the day.

The health department organised camps and screened residents while the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) staff carried out cleaning in the affected locality and distributed chlorine tablets among residents. Residents in the locality have been advised to consume only boiled water.

“Three people who were admitted to different hospitals have died. Thirty-five others who were hospitalised since Monday nighte were discharged, mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava told reporters. The exact cause of death will be ascertained after post-mortem examination,” he said.

Chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hassani said the admitted patients complained of vomiting and diarrhoea after drinking contaminated water. Water samples were collected for testing from the locality, and reports will arrive in 48 hours, CMHO said. Residents said that they took after consuming water supplied to homes through municipal tap connections. Chief minister Mohan Yadav directed the local administration to ensure prompt and quality treatment for all patients.

“Prima facie it appears to be a case of negligence by people responsible for water supply and laying pipelines,” mayor Bhargava said. The IMC team began to identify the contamination by mapping the pipeline supplying water to Bhagirathpura. “We found that the water contamination was near the main line,” IMC commissioner Dileep Kumar Yadav told reporters.

The contamination point was identified near the Bhagirathpura police check post, where a newly constructed toilet was dumping its waste in a sinkhole, instead of a proper septic tank. The sinkhole was exactly above the water supply line, which had a joint.

The IMC now planned to flush the water pipeline for the next 2 days, with an advisory to the people to avoid using the water.

“We are supplying drinking water in the area through around 60-70 tankers,” the municipal commissioner said. Congress held a press conference demanding immediate sacking of engineers responsible for laying drainage and water pipelines. Leader of opposition in IMC, Chintu Chouksey, alleged that primary responsibility lay with the Narmada water supply project engineers.

“Their role should be immediately probed, and they should be booked under criminal charges,” he added.

Mayor Bhargava said the priority was to bring the situation under control. “The matter will be probed, and the quantum of punishment will be decided on the basis of the outcome,” he said.