Indore water contamination: MP CM Mohan Yadav suspends civic officials; orders removal of municipal commissioner

NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav on Friday announced strict action against senior civic officials over the contaminated drinking water incident in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area, saying negligence would not be tolerated.In a post on X late Friday, the chief minister said Rohit Sisonia, additional commissioner of the Indore Municipal Corporation, and Sanjeev Srivastava, executive engineer in charge of the public health engineering (PHE) department, had been suspended. He also said instructions had been issued to remove Dilip Kumar Yadav, the commissioner of the Indore Municipal Corporation.“The state government will not tolerate negligence in the incident caused by contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura, Indore. Strict decisions are being taken in this regard,” Yadav said in his post.The chief minister had earlier ordered disciplinary action following an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting linked to contaminated water in the area. The outbreak has affected more than 1,400 people over the past nine days. While local residents have claimed that 15 people, including a six-month-old baby, died, the health department has confirmed four deaths so far, news agency PTI reported.Yadav reviewed the situation with the chief secretary and senior officials and directed that show-cause notices be issued to the municipal commissioner and additional commissioner. He also ordered the immediate transfer of the additional commissioner from Indore and the withdrawal of water distribution responsibilities from the in-charge superintending engineer.Laboratory tests have confirmed that the outbreak was caused by contaminated drinking water, PTI reported, citing officials. A leakage was found in a main water supply pipeline near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura, at a spot over which a toilet had been constructed, leading to contamination.Officials said clean water supply has since been restored after repairs, though residents have been advised to boil water as a precaution. The state government has also directed officials to prepare a time-bound plan to prevent similar incidents elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh.