Retired HC Judge to Lead Probe into Indore Contaminated Water Deaths

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh high court has constituted a commission of inquiry to probe the contaminated water supply in Bhagirathpura in Indore, leading to the death of several people.

Resuming the hearing in the case on Tuesday, the division bench comprising Justices, Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi, observed that considering the gravity of the situation, ‘the Court is of the opinion that the matter requires investigation, by an independent, credible authority’.

Accordingly, the court constituted a one-man commission of inquiry headed by retired judge of Madhya Pradesh high court Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta to probe the ‘issues relating to water contamination in Bhagirathpura, Indore, and its impact on other areas of the city’.

The Madhya Pradesh government told the high court that out of 23 deaths reported in Bhagirathpura, 16 were on account of water contamination.

While deaths of four persons were unrelated to the outbreak, no conclusion could be reached regarding the cause of deaths of three other persons in the area, the state government, in its report submitted to the court, said.

The Madhya Pradesh government made the claims based on a report prepared by a five-member committee from government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, which examined 23 deaths from the area.

Petitioners and media reports however put the death toll close to 30.

“Photographs, medical reports and complaints indicated a matter requiring urgent judicial scrutiny”, the bench observed, while ordering constitution of the enquiry commission.’

The court directed the commission to submit a report on the cause of the contamination and number of deaths reported in the area and also asked the authorities concerned to test the water quality in the affected areas daily and hold medical camps.