In a tragic incident that has shaken the country's cleanest city, seven people have lost their lives and over 1,100 residents have fallen ill due to contaminated drinking water in Indore's Bhagirathpura area. Madhya Pradesh's Urban Development Minister, Kailash Vijayvargiya, publicly admitted to lapses by officials on Wednesday, promising strict action against those responsible regardless of their position.
Minister Admits Failure, Promises Action
Kailash Vijayvargiya, who also represents the Indore-1 assembly constituency where the affected Bhagirathpura locality falls, addressed the media regarding the crisis. He stated, "I feel that a mistake has been committed", but emphasized the immediate priority was patient recovery. The minister assured that no one responsible would be spared, even if the official held a very high rank. On the death toll, he noted that while some fatalities were linked to the incident, others were natural deaths, and a final figure would be shared after a medical and administrative inquiry.
Scale of the Outbreak and Official Response
The health crisis unfolded over the past week, with residents suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Officials confirmed that 111 patients required hospitalization. In response, the administration has deployed four ambulances and dedicated medical teams in Bhagirathpura. Separate wards have been established at the government-run Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital and the private Shri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences. Vijayvargiya also announced that the state government will bear the full treatment cost for all affected patients, including those in private hospitals.
Cause Identified, Suspensions Ordered
Indore Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Dilip Kumar Yadav, identified the cause as a leakage in the main water supply pipeline, over which a toilet had been constructed, leading to the probable contamination. Acting on the directions of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, the municipal corporation has taken immediate disciplinary action. A zonal officer and an assistant engineer have been suspended, while the services of a sub-engineer in-charge have been terminated. Furthermore, a three-member committee headed by an IAS officer has been constituted to conduct a thorough probe into the incident.
While the minister reported that the number of new vomiting and diarrhoea cases has decreased, hospital admissions continue. The incident has raised serious questions about water safety infrastructure in Indore, a city consistently awarded for its cleanliness, turning a national achievement into a scene of a devastating public health failure.
