Sewage from Police Outpost Poisons Indore Water; Officials Shunted as Death Toll Rises

Bhopal: A police outpost established in the area affected by water contamination in Indore city in Madhya Pradesh is the source of sewage that leaked into the pipeline, causing the death of ten people so far.

According to an official report, a toilet was built in the police outpost sans septic tank, leading to the sewage to gather at the nearby ditch, under which the pipeline ran to supply drinking water to the city from Narmada.

State urban administration and housing minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has also confirmed this earlier.

“Measures are being taken to fix things”, a senior officer of Indore Municipal Corporation said.

Meanwhile, Indore Municipal Corporation chairman Puspmitra Bhargav said that information gathered from the local people said that ten people have so far died due to water contamination.

However, the status report submitted by the state government to the Indore bench of high court on Friday put the death toll at four.

The high court fixed the next date of hearing in the matter on February six.

Reports said that some hospitals in Indore reported admission of fresh patients suspected to be affected by water contamination, on Friday.

As many as 201 patients are currently undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Indore.

The water sample tests conducted in the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital in Indore have indicated presence of bacteria found in sewage water.

The culture of the pathogen is being done to identify the bacteria, sources said.

Sources said that reports of 36 of 70 water samples collected from the affected area in Bhagirathpura in the city have come so far.

In another development, chief minister Mohan Yadav on Friday reviewed the situation at a high-level official meeting here.

The report submitted by the probe committee headed by additional chief secretary (urban administration) Sanjay Dubey into the matter was discussed in the meeting.

Mr. Yadav later said that based on the probe report, show cause notices have been issued to commissioner of the Indore Municipal Corporation and his deputy, while the latter has been shifted from his post.

The in-charge superintendent engineer of the corporation has been divested of water supply charge.

The chief minister said that measures were being taken to bring normalcy in the safe drinking water supply to the city.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has meanwhile sought a report from the state government on the incident, officials said.

In another development, a number of women from the affected area in Indore staged a demonstration before the Indore Municipal Corporation in protest against negligence by the civic body leading to the tragedy.

The youth Congress also staged a boat ride stir in the Upper Lake here on Friday in protest against the incident.

They were seen carrying photographs of Mr. Vijayvargiya holding a bell while rowing boats in the lake.

Mr. Vijayvargiya had earlier caused a flutter by uttering ‘ghanta’, an objectionable word meaning nonsense, while replying to a question from a journalist in Indore.