In country's cleanest city, wary of illness, people now pause before drinking water

INDORE: In Bhagirathpura, mornings no longer begin with the clang of utensils and the rush to fill water pots. In the country's cleanest city, people now pause before drinking water.

The densely populated neighbourhood in Indore district, home largely to daily-wage workers and small shop employees, is still coming to terms with the deaths caused by contaminated drinking water.




Parvati Suryavanshi, 62, frail and recovering from severe diarrhoea, waits for a tanker outside her house. Just inside her door, a blue plastic drum stands filled with tanker water, its lid tightly shut.

"We will boil this and drink. We no longer use tap water," she says.

The fear runs across Bhagirathpura. Almost every household has members suffering from fever, vomiting and dehydration. Buckets and steel containers line kitchens, all filled with tanker water that is boiled multiple times before consumption. Many families have stopped drinking Narmada supply water entirely.

"There is not a single house where someone hasn't fallen sick," says Kamla Kumari, waiting for her husband to bring medicines for her ailing mother-in-law. "We complained repeatedly. We cannot afford RO systems or bottled water; we are dependent on tankers."

For many, the health crisis is also a financial one. Pushpa Morya, whose 77-year-old husband's condition deteriorated rapidly, shifts him between three hospitals.

"We have spent nearly Rs 15,000 on treatment, and Rs 2,000 just on diapers," said Morya. "As his health worsened, we kept changing hospitals. Along with the illness, now our savings are being completely exhausted."

Residents lament the lack of timely warning. Families initially rushed to nearby clinics, unsure of the cause, only realising the pattern when it was too late.

"If only someone had told us earlier that the water was unsafe," says a young resident. "The water kept coming, and people kept getting sick from it."

In a city that is celebrated nationally for its cleanliness rankings, the irony is bitter for locals.
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