Amid contamination woes, Indore mayor drinks tap water in diarrhoea-hit Bhagirathpura

Indore: Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava on Friday drank tap water in Bhagirathpura amid the water contamination tragedy in the area even as the local administration claimed it has restored the supply of clean drinking water to about 30 per cent of the area after repairing municipal pipeline leaks.

Bhagirathpura hit national headlines in the last week of December after several people died following an outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water.

Bhargava, while carrying out a review here, drank water supplied to homes through taps connected to the pipeline and said it was pure.

After repair works, water was supplied through municipal pipelines in Bhagirathpura over the past three days and several samples were collected, which were found to be clean on testing, he said in a statement.

"After all tests found the drinking water to be safe, water supply through municipal pipelines has been restored in about 30 per cent of Bhagirathpura. Around 15,000 people live in this area." he added.

Indore depends on the Narmada river for its water requirements. Water from the river is brought to the city from Jalud in neighbouring Khargone district, around 80 kilometres away, through pipelines laid by the municipal corporation and supplied to households.

The outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura began towards the end of December. Local residents have claimed that 24 people have died so far in the outbreak.

The state government, however, in a status report submitted to Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday, mentioned the deaths of seven people, including a five-month-old infant, during the outbreak in Bhagirathpura.

Meanwhile, a 'death audit' report prepared by a committee of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College here has indicated that the deaths of 15 people may be linked in some way to the outbreak.

The administration has provided compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to 21 people who lost their lives after the outbreak. Officials have claimed some of these deaths were due to other illnesses and causes, but financial assistance is being provided to kin of all deceased on humanitarian grounds.