Indore Water Contamination: HC Directs Chief Secretary To Explain Action Taken Via Video Conference

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the state chief secretary to appear before it via video conference on January 15 and explain action taken in the Indore water contamination issue.

The court was hearing petitions over the deaths and illness caused by contaminated water supply in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area. 

The high court termed the response of the state government and local administration to the crisis as “insensitive”.

A division bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi was hearing four or five petitions related to the incident, said High Court Bar Association president Ritesh Inani, who is one of the petitioners in the matter.

“During the proceedings, the high court termed the response submitted by the government as insensitive

and observed that the incident had not only shaken public trust but also adversely affected Indore’s image at the national level,” Inani told reporters, as per PTI.

The bench referred to Indore’s consistent top ranking in the Centre’s annual cleanliness survey. It remarked that such negligence in a city known for cleanliness was a matter of serious concern.

Inani said the court also took a strong view of the status report submitted by the Indore Municipal Corporation and the district administration regarding the death toll, and described the entire episode as extremely grave. It will examine if the matter involved criminal liability or civil liability, he said. The chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh will have to remain present before the HC on January 15 through video conference, he added.

At least 38 fresh cases of vomiting and diarrhoea linked to contaminated drinking water were detected on January 5 at the Bhagirathpura primary health centre, with a senior official putting the death toll so far at seven. Six patients have been referred for treatment, and 110 are undergoing treatment in hospitals, including 15 in ICUs, as per officials.

(With PTI inputs)