According to the locals, eight persons, including six women, lost their lives within a week after falling ill due to contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area.
A health department official said on Wednesday (December 31) that Nandlal Pal (70), Urmila Yadav (60) and Tara Kori (65) died of diarrhoea in the locality.
MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has expressed grief over the incident and announced financial assistance of ₹2 lakh each to the families of the deceased. He also said the state government would bear the entire cost of the treatment of all patients.
An official said that following the CM's instructions, a zonal officer of the municipal corporation and an assistant engineer in Bhagirathpura were suspended with immediate effect, while the services of an in-charge sub-engineer were terminated.
Read more: Uttarakhand train crash: Loco and goods trains collision leaves 60 injured in Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydroelectric project tunnel
The official said a three-member committee headed by an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been constituted to probe the allegations of deaths caused by water contamination.
Municipal Commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav said a leakage was found at a point in the main water supply pipeline in Bhagirathpura, above which a toilet has been constructed. He said the drinking water was possibly contaminated due to this leakage.
MP Congress spokesperson Neelabh Shukla alleged that the administration was concealing the actual death toll to cover up its “fatal negligence” in the contaminated drinking water incident.
“The contaminated drinking water incident has put an ugly blot on the image of the country’s cleanest city, Indore, but only cosmetic steps are being taken in the name of action,” he added.
Read more: California delays revoking 17,000 commercial driver's licenses until March after immigrants sue
Meanwhile, more than 100 people have been hospitalised. Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani said that after reports of a diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura, the health department surveyed 2,703 households and examined around 12,000 people, providing on-the-spot primary treatment to 1,146 patients with mild symptoms.
He said that 111 patients with relatively serious conditions were admitted to different hospitals, of whom 18 were discharged after treatment.
"The patients said they suffered from vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration after drinking contaminated water," Hasani said.
