Indore Water Deaths a 'Wake-Up Call' for BJP, Says Sumitra Mahajan

 Bhopal: BJP veteran and former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan has termed the water contamination deaths in Bhagirathpura in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, ‘a wake-up call’ for the ruling BJP.

Breaking her silence on the tragedy, Ms. Mahajan described the incident as ‘very painful’ and said that it is the BJP that nurtured Indore over the past many years to become the cleanest city of India.

The BJP leader narrated how she started her political career in Indore by being elected as a ward member in the Indore Municipality decades ago and since then she had devoted herself for the development of the city.

“It is very painful to see people in the city dying due to the water contamination. It is a wake-up call for the BJP and we need to introspect what went wrong and why it happened”, she told the media indicating the gravity of the issue.

She said that BJP is ruling in the Indore Municipal Corporation, the state and the Centre.

Meanwhile, as many as 15 people from Bhagirathpura were still undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Indore, official sources said.

As many as 400 people have been admitted in different hospitals in Indore since the first water contamination death was reported on December 24 last. Of them, 385 have been discharged.

Eleven people were still in intensive care units (ICUs).

The official death toll due to water contamination is put at eight, but 23 deaths have so far been reported in Bhagirathpura and surrounding areas.

However, some deaths were due to various other reasons.

Meanwhile, ‘Jal Jansuwain’ (water grievance hearings) began in the areas affected by water contamination in Indore by the local administration as part of the ongoing statewide campaign to provide clean drinking water to the people.