Indore: A 50-year-old e-rickshaw driver has died in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area which has witnessed several deaths due to contaminated drinking water in the last few days, but officials said the cause of death in his case was cancer.
Hemant Gaikwad (50) died on Tuesday night while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city.
Locals have put the death toll due to vomiting and diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura at 25, a claim not confirmed by civic authorities.
Hemant’s younger brother Sanjay Gaikwad told news agency, “My brother died due to contaminated water. We lost him after just 15 days of illness.”
Hemant, who drove an e-rickshaw, was the sole breadwinner of his family, and the state government should provide them assistance, he added. “Those responsible for my brother’s death should be punished,” said a grief-stricken Sanjay.
Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani said that according to doctors, Hemant died of cardiopulmonary arrest. “He was suffering from cancer and undergoing treatment....the actual cause of his death is cancer,” the official said.
Cardiopulmonary arrest is a condition in which both the heartbeat and respiration suddenly stop, preventing oxygen and blood from reaching vital organs, especially the brain.
Hemant’s funeral procession left his home in Bhagirathpura on Wednesday morning. His relatives and neighbours found it difficult to console his mourning mother, wife, and four daughters.
His youngest daughter Manali, who is 12 years old, lit the funeral pyre with the help of a relative.
Eldest daughter Riya said, “My father had diarrhoea due to contaminated water, and we admitted him to a private hospital. When his condition worsened, he was taken
to another private hospital, where he died.”
While reports of people taking till due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura began to come in late December, residents said they had been facing the problem for a long time but no action was taken despite numerous complaints to the municipal corporation.
According to officials, contaminated water was found in 51 tube wells in the area, and laboratory reports disclosed the presence of E coli bacteria.
As per civic officials, a leak in the drinking water pipeline led to the mixing of sewage water from a toilet.
In a status report submitted to the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on January 15, the state government mentioned seven deaths due to diarrhoea and vomiting outbreak. A death audit report prepared by a committee of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in the city indicated that at least 15 deaths in Bhagirathpura could be linked to the outbreak.
The administration has provided compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of 21 people who lost their lives after the vomiting and diarrhea outbreak.
Some of these people had died due to other illnesses, but financial assistance was provided on humanitarian grounds, officials said.