Indore Water Contamination: Death Toll Rises to 25 as Another Patient Dies

Indore: One more person has died after consuming contaminated drinking water supplied by the BJP-ruled municipal corporation in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, taking the death toll to 25. The deceased has been identified as Hemanth Gaikwad (51), a resident of Bhagirathpura, who died on Tuesday morning while undergoing treatment.

Hemanth fell ill on December 22 after drinking polluted water. He developed severe symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea, and his condition worsened over time. He was admitted to hospital on January 7 in critical condition. An autorickshaw driver by profession, Hemanth was the sole breadwinner of his family.

At present, nine people who consumed the contaminated water are still undergoing treatment, of whom seven are in intensive care units. Authorities fear that the death toll may rise further. The opposition has alleged that the BJP government is concealing the actual number of deaths.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has earlier expressed strong dissatisfaction over the continuing deaths caused by polluted water in Indore, a city often hailed as the cleanest city in the country. The court questioned who was responsible for monitoring the implementation of its directives and where complaints were supposed to be lodged. Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, who appeared via video conferencing, was unable to provide clear answers to the court’s queries.

Preliminary findings suggest that the tragedy was caused by a leak in the main drinking water pipeline, which caused sewage waste to mix with the water supply. There had been widespread complaints for over a week that the water supplied through municipal pipelines from the Narmada River was of poor quality.

Following public protests, the municipal corporation suspended the zonal officer and an assistant engineer, while the in-charge sub-engineer was dismissed from service.