Indore water contamination: 200 still hospitalised, 32 in ICUs; municipal commissioner removed

INDORE: The Madhya Pradesh govt removed Indore municipal commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav and suspended additional commissioner Rohit Sisoniya on Friday, its first major action in the contaminated water tragedy in Indore's Bhagirathpura, since people began falling ill on Dec 29 in a city ranked on multiple occasions as India's cleanest. The action came on a day the death toll in the tragedy rose to 10 with the death of a 68-year-old woman.

Pradeep Nigam, in-charge superintendent engineer of Indore Municipal Corporation's (IMC) water distribution department, was also removed from his post. Three additional commissioners - Akash Prakhar Singh and Ashish Kumar Pathak - were posted to the IMC after a meeting chaired by additional chief secretary Sanjay Dubey, who has been camping in Indore.



Submitting a status report, the state govt, however, told the MP high court Friday that only four deaths had been recorded. Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said Friday he had information of 10 deaths due to the diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura.

According to health department data, four people have died due to the diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura. However, I have received information about 10 deaths due to this outbreak,” the mayor said.

“A total of 294 patients have been admitted, of which 93 have been discharged. Around 201 patients are still admitted and 32 patients are in ICUs,” the status report submitted to HC said.

Hours before the IMC shake-up, CM Mohan Yadav wrote on X: “I reviewed action being taken by state govt in the Indore contaminated drinking water case with the chief secretary and other senior officials and issued necessary directions. I also discussed the report presented by the additional chief secretary in charge of the urban development department.”

“We have taken the contaminated water case with utmost seriousness. We have taken action against those found guilty of negligence. There will be no compromise when it comes to health of the people. We will fix responsibility and ensure strict action,” the CM wrote on X.

As the administrative changes unfolded, a flurry of activity was noticed in Bhagirathpura, where IMC workers cleaned streets and supplied water in tankers, health workers checked patients and distributed medicines, and ASHA workers conducted door-to-door surveys, checking on children. On Friday, gloom pervaded the residence of Geetabai Dhruvkar, 68. “She was admitted with diarrhoea and vomiting... Her kidneys gave way. She died Friday morning,” said her brother-in-law, Chandrashekhar Dhruvkar.

Indore Municipal Corporation vehicles made announcements in Bhagirathpura asking people to avoid using tap water, which was being flushed after plugging all leakages and tested for contamination, and use tanker water. Residents were told to boil their drinking water.

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