‘Water mixed with sewage’: Months after Indore crisis, hundreds fall ill in Jaipur locality

Another local, 55-year-old Hari Yadav, says he has been suffering from stomach ache, nausea and diarrhoea for four-five days. In his family, his sister and niece have also had these symptoms.

Sitting on the steps of a shop near his home, Bablu Mehra and his relative, Jyoti Devi, say they have been suffering from stomach aches. “I had to get medicines from the clinic, and I’m better now,” Devi says. In the absence of clean water, locals have had to fall back on water tankers or purchase 20-litre water jars for their drinking water needs.

Ratan Yadav, another local, says road construction in the area may have damaged water pipelines, leading to the crisis. “Road construction work is going on in the area, and the drinking water pipeline was damaged during the process, leading to sewage water entering the pipeline from an overflowing drain,” he says.

Viral video

Earlier this week, local BJP MLA from Civil Lines, Gopal Sharma, had to bear the brunt of public anger after locals offered him the contaminated water in a glass, asking him to drink from it. In the video, which has gone viral, Sharma, crowded by some locals, is seen smelling the glass and returning it.

However, Sharma has made multiple visits to the spot and reassured locals about the issue, claiming that most households are getting clean water now. The MLA said that officials from the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) were given instructions to resolve the issue at the earliest, while medical teams were also deployed in the area.

Taking stock of the situation on Friday, along with municipal officials, Sharma said, “The government and administration are working hard to find a permanent solution to the issue as soon as possible.”

Dr Anil Mehta, in charge at the local government dispensary, says that over 150 patients have turned up with similar complaints of vomiting, diarrhoea, etc. in the last three days. “These include 25 children, 38 females and the rest are adult males,” he says.

Mehta says that upon receiving instructions from the Health Department, as many as 1,400 primary care packets, which include ORS and zinc tablets among other things, have been distributed to local households.

Dr Sanjay Sharma, who runs a private clinic in the area, says that about 50-60 people have turned up in the last three days, complaining of diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach ache, etc. Nishant Mehta, who runs a chemist’s shop, says that around 80% of the customers visiting the shop have been asking for medicines to address these symptoms. In his family itself, two people have been unwell, he says.

Former Congress MLA from Civil Lines, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, alleged that a “perfectly good road was demolished in the middle of night, despite opposition by residents”, leading to the present situation.

“In the process, the sewerage and water lines got damaged, as a result of which dirty water is coming through the taps, and children have fallen sick,” he claimed.

Threatening a protest if the issue is not resolved soon, Khachariyawas said that it was due to the “government’s negligence and authoritarianism, and a waste of public money”.

A contaminated drinking water crisis had gripped Indore in Madhya Pradesh late last year and early this year, leading to the deaths of at least 23 people in the Bhagirathpura locality. The matter also led to a major political row and action against several senior officials.