A man drinks water from a tanker amid a contaminated water crisis in Indore on Saturday.
Credit: PTI photo
At least 11 people have lost their lives after drinking piped water supplied by the municipal corporation in Indore, ironically touted as India’s cleanest city. The toll is placed unofficially at 14. The city faced a health emergency when more than 2,000 people fell ill and over 200 were hospitalised, with 32 of them being treated in the ICU.
The contamination was caused by a breach in the water pipeline. It led to drinking water coming into contact with dirty water from a sewage line. The residents had been complaining of a foul smell emanating from the taps for some weeks, but neither the officials nor the municipal councillor took the complaints seriously. Timely investigation and action would have averted the tragedy. The callousness of the authorities was also seen in the words of state minister and local MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya who snapped at a reporter who asked him a question about accountability.
The tragedy was clearly a result of administrative negligence. The many agencies and departments concerned are blaming one another for it. The National Human Rights Commission and the Madhya Pradesh High Court have raised questions about the tragedy. A committee has been appointed to investigate the matter. Formation of committees, visits of leaders, announcement of compensation, and suspension of officials are routine measures taken after every such tragedy. It is clear that there were lapses and those who had to ensure that the pipes were intact and the supply was clean failed in their duty. It is not the first case of water contamination in Madhya Pradesh in recent times. In November, many students on the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) campus in Bhopal fell ill after drinking contaminated water. It led to vandalisation and violence on the campus.
The fact that water contamination affected a city declared the cleanest in the country eight consecutive times shows that any place is vulnerable to it. Programmes such as the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Jal Jeevan Mission have not been able to ensure supply of clean drinking water to all people. Cases of water contamination and break-out of water-borne diseases are reported at regular intervals from many parts of the country. About 70% of the surface water in the country is reportedly contaminated. According to the Central Ground Water Board’s 2024 report, over 30% of the samples it collected from distribution stations had higher than permissible levels of contamination. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure supply of clean water, a basic requirement of public health.