‘Uphold the beauty of Indore’: After deaths due to contamination, High Court orders immediate supply of clean drinking water
Hearing a PIL on the matter, the court also ordered authorities to provide the best treatment to those hospitalised due to the contaminated water.
The Indore municipal corporation submitted that it had already sent 30 water tankers. (Express Photo) Hearing a public interest litigation in connection with the deaths linked to contaminated drinking water in Indore’s Bhagirathpura, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered the municipal corporation to supply additional water tankers and urged authorities to “uphold the beauty of Indore”.
A Division Bench of Justices Dwarkadhish Bansal and Rajendra Kumar Vani directed the municipal corporation and the state government to supply clean water on a regular basis and to ensure those who have fallen ill get the best treatment.
Sewage mixed with drinking water has led to at least 10 deaths in Bhagirathpura. Prima facie, the cause appears to be a toilet built on a drinking water line with no safety tank underneath. Officially, the administration has so far linked four deaths and 212 hospitalisations to the contaminated water.
“This is big news. If people are dying because of the water, then this is wrong… Keep upholding the beauty of Indore,” Justice Bansal remarked while ordering the municipal authorities to supply additional water tankers to the affected areas.
According to the status report filed before the court, the Indore Municipal Corporation began large-scale deployment of water tankers immediately after the contamination was detected. A total of 36 tankers were deployed on December 30, followed by 34 on December 31, and 33 on January 1 to ensure an uninterrupted supply of safe drinking water.
Simultaneously, 32 teams comprising personnel from the Municipal Corporation and the Health Department, including the Chief Medical Health Officer’s teams, were pressed into service. More than 100 employees have been working on the ground in close coordination to manage the situation, monitor people’s health, and restore essential services.
During inspections carried out on December 30, the probable point of contamination was identified near the Bhagirathpura police station. The structure suspected to be causing the contamination was removed, and the pipeline running beneath it was repaired, the court was told.
During the hearing, lawyer Mohan Singh Chandel claimed that he had visited the site and that the residents were not given access to clean drinking water.
Justice Bansal said, “Indore is such a respected city, and the whole country says good things about the city. What will happen with just one tanker?”
The Indore municipal corporation submitted that it had already sent 30 water tankers.
“I want you to send additional water tankers and send photographs to the lawyer… We should send the tankers within 10 minutes… Collector, SDM, whoever you want to call, the water tankers must reach,” Justice Bansal said.
The corporation submitted that they would be sending four water tankers immediately. They also submitted that the tankers could not enter the locality since they’re large four-wheelers. The judge, however, asked the authorities to find solutions as “even fire engines manage to enter these localities to put out fires”.
Teams investigating the matter have said that at least 26 water samples were found to contain bacterial contamination.
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