Indore contamination: Locals say supply smelled foul for years, complaints went in vain

INDORE: Residents of Bhagirathpura now sit outside their homes in silence, grief replacing the usual neighbourhood chatter as more deaths continue to be linked to contaminated drinking water.For years, locals say the water smelled foul. Complaints were made. Nothing changed. Then, without warning, people who seemed healthy were rushed to hospitals with vomiting and diarrhoea. Some never returned. Others remain in ICU, fighting for their lives. Among the dead was Urmila, who worked 2 jobs to keep her family afloat. Hours before she collapsed, she was laughing with her neighbour. "We spoke about going to Omkareshwar jokingly just the day she was rushed to the hospital, and she said that even if we don't have money, let us travel free. How could she die the next day?" said Kamla Bai, still in disbelief.What angered residents even more was the attempt, they say, to dilute the scale of the tragedy. "She delivered over 50 boxes to the shop the same morning, and they claimed that she died of old age. It is hard to believe. The govt said such things for so many elderly people who died. The numbers are so high, but they are downplaying the deaths. Why?" asked Chandrakala Yadav.Fear now replaced trust in the most basic necessity – drinking water. People visiting the homes of the deceased refuse to touch local water. Even family members are wary. "I carry my own bottle for me and my kids. My younger daughter fell ill after consuming water here. We are all really scared," said Mamta Yadav, Urmila's daughter. Urmila's granddaughter Sonali also fell ill during a short stay."We saw people who were perfectly fine in the morning being rushed to the hospital by evening, and by the next day they were gone. It was so sudden that we still cannot believe it happened," said Geeta, whose mother-in-law Ramdulari is still undergoing treatment in the ICU. "Four members of our family, including 2 children aged 6 and 7, were also ill," she said."Instead of accepting that contaminated water caused these deaths, they keep saying the elderly died of age or illness. But we know what we saw. So many people fell sick at the same time," said another local, Ashutosh. "The numbers are clearly higher than what the govt is admitting. Families are grieving, and yet officials are trying to minimise the tragedy. Why is it so difficult to tell the truth?" asked Rani Prajapat.Those who still have borewells became lifelines for their neighbours dependent on the Narmada pipeline. "While we do not have any water, the support from our neighbours in these tough times is what is helping us," said a resident.