Collage of family members of a victim, who died after consumption of allegedly contaminated water, mourn in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Credit: PTI Photos
Indore: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Saturday meet families and patients affected by the vomiting and diarrhoea outbreak linked to water contamination in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, the party said on Friday.
State Congress president Jitu Patwari claimed 24 people have died after consuming contaminated water in the city's Bhagirathpura area, and eight to 10 patients are in a critical condition.
The state government, however, has put the toll in the tragedy at seven, including a five-month-old infant.
Gandhi would arrive in Indore on Saturday and meet affected persons undergoing treatment at Bombay Hospital, a private facility, he told reporters.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha would also visit Bhagirathpura and meet affected families to express condolences, he said.
Patwari said that the Congress wanted to organise a conference in Gandhi's presence to discuss solutions to the contaminated drinking water problem, involving intellectuals, environmentalists and municipal councillors from across the state, but the administration denied permission.
"Hence, we will organise this conference at a later date," Patwari said.
He further claimed that 70 per cent of water supplied in the state was contaminated and not potable, and described polluted water as "slow poison" that was causing serious damage to kidneys and other organs.
Targeting the ruling BJP, Patwari alleged, "Despite several deaths due to contaminated drinking water in Indore, state ministers are busy with grand events and are abusing us, asking why we are raising questions about this incident."
Residents of Bhagirathpura have claimed that 24 people have died so far in the vomiting and diarrhoea outbreak that broke out in the locality last month.
The state government submitted a status report before the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday, in which it stated that seven people, including a five-month-old infant, died in the outbreak.
Meanwhile, a 'death audit' report by a committee of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College indicated that the deaths of 15 people in Bhagirathpura could be linked in some manner to the outbreak.