Indore has woken up to a nightmare of its own making. Drinking water turned into poison, homes into sick wards, and a neighbourhood into a zone of mourning. At least ten lives have been officially acknowledged
as lost, among them a six-month-old infant, whose birth came after a decade of waiting. Hundreds are battling for recovery in hospitals, thousands have fallen ill, and fear now flows through the taps where water once did.
Negligence, not nature, behind the tragedy
This catastrophe was not caused by nature’s fury or fate’s cruelty. It was engineered by human negligence and sustained by official indifference. What makes the tragedy even more damning is its sheer banality. A sewage line from a newly built toilet was allowed to come in contact with the city’s main drinking water pipeline. From that unforgivable lapse, sewage seeped into the water supply, contaminating it and spreading disease on a massive scale.
Systemic failure of oversight and governance
Such a blunder would be unthinkable to any trained plumber or supervising engineer. That it went unnoticed until people began collapsing is not merely a failure of individuals but a systemic collapse of oversight, responsibility, and governance.
Skill India and questions of accountability
If this is how public works are executed, then the much-advertised Skill India Project demands urgent scrutiny. Our plumbers, electricians, and repair workers may know how to finish a task, but are they trained to do it safely, scientifically, and responsibly? In Indore, such casualness has proved fatal. Lives have been lost, and for many who survived, the damage to kidneys and other vital organs may surface only with time.
Responsibility must extend beyond the ground staff
The government says action has been initiated against negligent staff. That is necessary, but it barely scratches the surface. Who authorised the construction of the toilet? Who permitted its connection to the sewage system? In an urban centre, can such work be carried out without municipal approval and inspection? If permissions were granted, responsibility must rise to the top. If they were bypassed, the rot is even deeper.
Clean city tag rings hollow
The irony, and the shame, are impossible to ignore. Indore has been repeatedly paraded as India’s cleanest city, winning top honours year after year. Yet, what meaning do such titles hold when citizens are poisoned by the water they drink? Clean pavements and glossy rankings cannot conceal a corroded system below.
Warnings ignored, crisis deepens
Residents reportedly complained of a foul smell in their water days before December 25, but the alarm bells were not taken seriously. That early indifference paved the way for disaster. Even now, safe alternative water supplies remain inadequate, forcing frightened residents to walk long distances for borewell water.
Beyond sympathy, a demand for reform
The state owes Indore far more than sympathy. It owes accountability, transparency, and structural reform. Cleanliness is not a trophy to be flaunted. It begins with safe water and a government that treats every warning, and every life, as sacred.
