An Indore Municipal Corporation worker during a cleanliness drive after several people were affected due to consumption of contaminated water at Bhagirathpura area, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
An official laboratory test has verified that a diarrhoea outbreak was caused by contaminated drinking water, which has killed at least four patients and affected over 1,400 people in Indore's Bhagirathpura.
The findings verified that a life-threatening drinking water supply system prevails in parts of the city in Madhya Pradesh, which has been ranked India’s cleanest city for the last eight years.
Officials have informed that a leakage was found in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a Bhagirathpura police outpost at a spot over which a toilet has been constructed. They said the leakage resulted in the contamination of the water supply in the area.
On Thursday, Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani told reporters that a lab 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. He did not share the details of the test report.
Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Dubey told news agency PTI, “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.
“We have also taken samples of this water and sent them for testing,” Dubey said.
Drawing lessons from the water tragedy in Bhagirathpura, the senior bureaucrat informed that a standard operating procedure (SOP) will be issued for the entire state to prevent such incidents in the future.
An official from the health department said that 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), he added.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav visited the affected patients on Thursday, describing the outbreak as an "emergency". He also assured strict action will be taken against those proven to be responsible.
He further said that coordinated efforts by the government machinery ensured timely treatment to many patients, leading to improvement in their condition.