Cleanest city, contaminated water: Lab test confirms diarrhoea outbreak in Indore

INDORE: A laboratory test has confirmed that a diarrhoea outbreak, which has killed

at least four patients and affected over 2,400 people in Indore, was caused by contaminated drinking water, officials said.

The test findings substantiated that a life-threatening drinking water supply system prevails in parts of Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital, which has been ranked India’s cleanest city for the last eight years.

Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani said that a laboratory report prepared by a city-based medical college confirmed drinking water was contaminated due to a leakage in a pipeline in the Bhagirathpura area, from where the outbreak has been reported. However, he did not share the detailed findings of the test report.

Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava on Friday said he has received information about 10 deaths due to a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area of the city.

However, local residents have claimed that 14 individuals, including a six-month-old infant, have died due to the health crisis. The health department has not confirmed this claim. “According to health department data, four people have died due to the diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura. However, I have received information about 10 deaths due to this outbreak,” Bhargava was quoted as having said.

To a question about suspected cholera spread in the area based on preliminary test reports of drinking water samples collected from Bhagirathpura, the mayor said only the health department could provide information on the matter.

Cracking the whip, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered disciplinary action against senior Indore Municipal Corporation officials, including the immediate transfer of an additional commissioner from the city.

The state government on Friday night suspended Rohit Sisoniya, a 2017-batch IAS officer serving as Additional Commissioner of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC). IMC Commissioner Dilip Yadav, a 2014-batch IAS officer, was removed from his post. Sanjeev Shrivastava, Superintendent Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department, was also placed under suspension. The CM said the government was also taking corrective steps for other parts of the state and officials have been instructed to prepare a time-bound programme so that such incidents do not recur.

In a post on social media platform ‘X’, the Chief Minister said he has ordered issuance of show-cause notices to the Indore Municipal Corporation commissioner and additional commissioner during a review meeting on the contaminated drinking water issue.

He also ordered the immediate removal of the additional commissioner from Indore and the withdrawal of charge of the water distribution works department from the in-charge superintendent engineer. Yadav said he directed that necessary appointments be made immediately in the municipal corporation.

The CM said he reviewed the state government’s action on the contaminated drinking water issue with the chief secretary and other officials and issued necessary directions. Officials said that a leakage was found in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura at a spot over which a toilet has been constructed. They claimed the leakage led to contamination of the water supply in the area.

Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Dubey said, “We are closely examining the entire drinking water supply pipeline in Bhagirathpura to find out if there is any leakage elsewhere.” He said after inspection, clean water was supplied to households in Bhagirathpura through the pipeline on Thursday, though as a precaution, people have been advised to use the water for drinking only after boiling it.

Dubey visited Bhagirathpura to review the situation on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. A health department official said during a survey of 1,714 households in Bhagirathpura on Thursday, 8,571 people were examined. Of them, 338 people showing mild symptoms of vomiting-diarrhoea were given primary treatment at their homes. He stated that in the eight days since the outbreak, 272 patients were admitted to local hospitals, of whom 71 have been discharged so far. At present, 201 patients are admitted to hospitals, including 32 in intensive care units (ICUs), the official added.

Meanwhile, the state government informed the Madhya Pradesh High Court that the Bhagirathpura health crisis has been categorised as a “public health contingency”, and the situation has stabilised following the implementation of emergency measures and continuous monitoring. In a detailed 40-page status report along with annexures submitted before the Indore Bench of the High Court, the sub-divisional magistrate said the state government had taken all required measures and not treated the matter as a “routine medical issue”. The report, submitted in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ritesh Inani, president of Indore High Court Bar Association, claimed the outbreak of diarrhoeal illness is now under effective control, with continuous minute-to-minute monitoring in place to prevent any resurgence.

“No abnormal increase in fresh cases has been reported,” it added.

The High Court has ordered the municipal corporation to supply additional water tankers and urged authorities to “uphold the beauty of Indore”. A Division Bench of Justices Dwarkadhish Bansaland Rajendra Kumar Vani asked the corporation and the state government to supply clean water on a regular basis and to immediately provide the best treatment to the affected persons. On the ground, a joint survey team comprising officials from the district administration, municipal corporation and the Health Department is conducting door-to-door screenings. These teams are identifying new cases and distributing preventive ORS sachets and Zinc tablets to residents to stop symptoms from escalating.

The government assured the court that “appropriate action shall be taken strictly in accordance with law” once the final reports identify the cause of the contamination.

The report countered the allegation in the PIL that victims were left unaided, and highlighted a directive issued on December 30 which mandated that all private hospitals must provide entirely free treatment, including diagnostics and medicines, to all affected persons, not refuse admission to any patient from the affected area, and above all charge no fees, with the State Government guaranteeing full reimbursement to the private facilities.

The state described this move as a “humanitarian and welfare oriented approach” to ensure no one was denied care at any stage.

While acknowledging that “no amount of monetary assistance can ever compensate for the loss of human life,” the state has distributed ex gratia assistance of Rs 2,00,000 to the families of the deceased as an immediate supportive measure.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted the BJP’s “double-engine” government in Madhya Pradesh over the tragedy, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is always silent whenever the poor die.

Gandhi alleged that Madhya Pradesh has become the epicentre of misgovernance and cited various instances of casualties reportedly due to cough syrups, poor hygiene at government hospitals and now due to contaminated water. “Every home is filled with mourning, the poor are helpless - and on top of that, BJP leaders are making arrogant statements. Those who lost their lives and livelihoods needed solace; the government offered arrogance,” he said. In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said PM Modi keeps talking about his government’s Jal Jeevan Mission, but was silent on deaths caused by contaminated water in Indore, the country’s “cleanest city”.

Senior BJP leader and former state chief minister Uma Bharti targeted her party’s government over the deaths, asking it to do a “severe atonement” for the “sin”, and seeking “maximum punishment to all the culprits - from bottom to top”.

Terming the episode as Chief Minister Yadav’s “testing time” as it has “tarnished” the state, the former CM said an apology was owed to the victims.