Several deaths due to drinking water contamination with sewage water have been recorded in Indore. The Madhya Pradesh city was declared the “cleanest” in India consecutively for the last eight years according to the Swachh Survekshan, the annual cleanliness survey carried out by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs of the union government.
The tragedy has raised questions about the authenticity of such surveys as residents point out that the city continued to be awarded the “cleanest” city tag despite the on-ground situation worsening over the last few years. “The situation has deteriorated since the new Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava took over in 2022 from the earlier mayor Malini Gaur, who handled city cleanliness much better,” said an activist, wanting to remain anonymous. The present mayor could not be reached for his comment on the development. (The Plurals will upload the current mayor’s response if available.)
The official death toll from drinking contaminated water in Indore rose to 10 on Friday afternoon according to the official estimate, even as unofficial estimates put the figure at 15. About 300 people have been hospitalised and over 2,800 have fallen ill in the last 10 days in Indore’s densely populated Bhagirathpura area from drinking water supplied by the Indore Municipal Corporation which got contaminated with leaked sewage water from drain pipes.
Complaints unattended
“There have been complaints of contamination for almost three months, including online complaints to the mayor’s office in municipal corporation, but there was neither any response nor action,” claimed Banty Bhadkare, son of an elderly person who had to be admitted in hospital after a bout of acute diarrhoea. “We have two patients in our family, almost every lane in the neighbourhood has several patients,” added Bhadkare.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), taking suo motu notice of the situation, has sought a detailed report from the Madhya Pradesh government within two weeks. The NHRC, mentioning a media report, has said in its notice that the main drinking water supply pipeline passes beneath a public toilet, which has deteriorated the quality of the water. “Reportedly, the residents had been complaining about the supply of contaminated water supply for several days, but no action was taken by the authorities,” mentions NHRC notice, available with The Plurals.
“According to the media report, the main pipeline, which supplies drinking water to the area, passes beneath a public toilet. Due to a leakage in the main line, sewage water reportedly mixed with the drinking water. Besides, several water distribution lines were also found broken in the area, due to which contaminated water was reaching the households,” says the notice, pointing at the role of the local administration.
Damage (not under) control
The tragedy has left the Madhya Pradesh government rushing into damage control. Two officers have been suspended and one has been dismissed from service. Indore divisional commissioner Sudam Khade told the national daily, The Hindu, that more than 26 water samples had tested positive for bacterial contamination. The municipality has claimed that supply lines have been thoroughly cleaned now, leakages have been repaired, chlorine tablets have been distributed in the area and residents have been advised to drink boiled water.
The Madhya Pradesh government lost its face again when the state urban development and housing minister and local MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya, on Wednesday, shouted at a journalist who was and blurted: “… leave it, don’t ask useless questions.” As the video of the incident turned viral and opposition to his comment mounted, including calls for resignation, he later posted a message on X expressing regret over his words to the journalist.
“My team and I have been continuously working to improve the situation in the affected area without sleep for the past two days. My people are suffering from contaminated water, and some have left us; in this state of deep sorrow, my words came out wrong in response to a media question. For this, I express my regret. But until my people are completely safe and healthy, I will not sit quietly,” he wrote.
Question mark over cleanest tag
The deaths take on a terrible irony because Indore has been judged the country’s “cleanest” city for the last consecutive eight years by the Swachh Survekshan survey instituted by the Centre. Officially, this makes Indore the topper among more than a lakh of Indian cities; and an eight-year run is unprecedented.
In the Swachh Survekshan report available online, of the year 2023, Indore scores 100% in seven out of eight parameters: in door-to-door collection of waste, waste generation vs processing, remediation of dumpsites, cleanliness of residential areas, cleanliness of market areas, cleanliness of water bodies — and cleanliness of public toilets. The details of the 2024 survey score card, in which Indore again stood at the top, is not available on the site.
According to Swachh Survekshan website, the survey was started in 2014 — when the BJP government came to power at the Centre — as part of the prime minister’s Swachh Bharat Mission. The Swachh Survekshan was conceptualised as the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs. The Centre claims it is the “largest urban sanitation survey in the world”.
With Inputs from Chandrima S. Bhattacharya