‘The administration killed them’: Six-month-old, whose parents waited decade for a boy, among 8 dead from contaminated water in Indore

The grief in Sunil’s voice was palpable as he recounted his son’s final hours. “He had diarrhoea and fever. We took him to the doctor… and he was fine for two days. Suddenly, at night, he developed a very high fever. He vomited and then died at home,” he said.

It began as a seemingly regular bout of illness for some people in the locality around December, before taking a more alarming turn as thousands fell ill over the next few days.

Indore Municipal Corporation workers conduct a cleanliness drive after several people were affected due to consumption of contaminated water at Bhagirathpura area, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. (PTI)

Of those who died, most were reported to have been healthy before their condition began deteriorating rapidly. Among them was 31-year-old Uma Kori, who lived in Bhagirathpura with her husband, Bihari Kori, in a small rented space.

On Sunday evening, Bihari stopped at a local shop on his way home from work and bought jalebi for his wife. But in the early hours of the next day, at around 3 am, Uma began vomiting. At first, it seemed manageable, and the couple thought it was a regular case of food poisoning. With time, however, her condition worsened, with continuous bouts of vomiting and dehydration setting in. By around 11 am, Uma had lost consciousness. She was taken on a motorcycle driven by her brother-in-law while her husband held her limp body. “By the time we arrived at a private hospital, she was dead,” her husband said.

Another victim, 74-year-old Manjula Wadhe, had cooked dinner for her family on Monday night. Around midnight, she started vomiting, which was followed by diarrhoea. Her husband, Digambar Wadhe, stayed awake through the night to care for her, hoping the illness would pass. By morning, however, her condition had worsened. The family rushed her to Indore’s MY Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

Digambar said, “The water in our locality has been bad for the past few days. The administration is responsible for my wife’s death.”

Seema Prajapat, another victim, was 50 years old. According to her brother, Jitendra, she began vomiting around 4 am on Monday. Her condition worsened so rapidly that by 9 am, the family was rushing her to the hospital. She died five hours later.

Jitendra and other family members said that Seema had no prior illness. They also raised the complaint that has since become a refrain across Bhagirathpura: “The water supplied to the area for the past week smelled of drainage.”

It was on Friday evening that 70-year-old Urmila Yadav fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea. Her son, Sanjay, said she was admitted to Cloth Market Hospital the next morning and remained in the ICU for a day. She died on Sunday morning, around 11 am.

“On December 27, after drinking water from the tap, she developed severe diarrhoea. By the next day, she was gone. She used to tell us the water tasted strange, but we never thought it could be this dangerous,” said Chandrakala Yadav, her daughter-in-law.

Nandlal, who was 75 years old, had a history of high blood pressure and was irregular with his medication, his family said. On Sunday, he was admitted to Verma Hospital and died Tuesday morning. While hospital authorities had initially said he died of a cardiac arrest, authorities later confirmed that contaminated water played a role. “We thought it was something he ate; we never imagined the water we drink every day could kill him,” his son, Sidharth, said.