NGT Terms Indore Water Contamination ‘Serious Governance Failure’ After 15 Deaths
The bench constituted a fact-finding team to assess the situation in the affected area and submit a report within six weeks: Reports
BHOPAL: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) central bench here has termed the water contamination in Indore’s Bhagirathpura, in which at least 15 people died, as ‘serious governance failure’.
The green watchdog, in its order in response to a batch of petitions filed on the matter, held that the crisis in Bhagirathpura has brought to fore the “serious governance failure, including delayed emergency responses, inconsistent disclosures regarding the number of affected people and fatalities, and lack of transparency and accountability”.
The bench, comprising judicial member Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Ishwar Singh, on Thursday further observed that ‘The incident was not an isolated occurrence but reflective of a broader and systemic failure in urban water management, as similar conditions and contamination risks have been reported in other cities of Madhya Pradesh such as Ujjain, Gwalior, Rewa and Satna, demonstrating a continuing and state-wide environmental and public health threat’.
The bench described the supply of contaminated drinking water as a violation of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the constitutional guarantee of the right to life under Article 21, which includes the right to clean and safe drinking water.
The bench constituted a fact-finding team to assess the situation in the affected area and submit a report within six weeks.
The tribunal also issued guidelines to the state government and the civic bodies in Madhya Pradesh for providing safe drinking water, including the proposal to launch a ‘Water App’ to help people lodge complaints regarding water quality.
In another development, chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh government Anurag Jain submitted before the MP high court on Thursday that financial relief of two lakh each has been given to the families of 21 people died in the area in Indore as per the state government’s decision to release the assistance in cases of all deaths without considering if any of the deaths were due to water contamination.
He also said that sources of water contamination have been examined and treated if found unsafe.
According to him, samples of 51 tube wells in the affected area have been found to be contaminated and use of water from them is stopped till quality of water is found safe.