Gandhinagar water crisis: TMC blames BJP for public health failures

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday expressed grave concern over a public health crisis in Gandhinagar, alleging that repeated incidents of contaminated drinking water in BJP-ruled cities point to a collapse of basic governance.

The party said that from Indore to Gandhinagar, a disturbing pattern was emerging where civic negligence was forcing ordinary citizens to pay with their health. Questioning Gujarat’s much-publicised “model governance,” the TMC asked how sewage could mix with drinking water pipelines and why authorities acted only after hospitals began filling up with patients.

The criticism comes amid a major health scare in Gujarat’s capital, where more than 70 people have been hospitalized over the past few days after falling ill from consuming contaminated water. Health department officials said the patients were admitted with symptoms consistent with typhoid and severe gastrointestinal infections.

A significant number of those affected are children. Preliminary investigations suggest that contamination may have occurred due to leakage in drinking water pipelines, possibly during recent drainage or sewer-related work in several residential sectors of Gandhinagar.

However, the Opposition has maintained that emergency responses cannot substitute accountability, warning that repeated infrastructure failures undermine public trust and pose serious risks to public health. “Why do authorities under them always wake up only after hospitals begin to fill up?” TMC wrote.