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Indore: Consumption of contaminated drinking water in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore has so far hospitalised 142 people after they reported diarrhoea symptoms
out of which 11 are in critical condition. Meanwhile, a screening of more than 9,000 people in the Bhagirathpura area, where the infection spread due to contaminated water, revealed 20 new patients. Health teams carrying out a survey in Bhagirathpura have examined 9,416 patients from 2,354 households so far, Officials told PTI adding 20 fresh cases were identified in the course of this examination. They added that since the outbreak, 398 patients had been admitted to hospitals near the area, with 11 admitted to ICUs.
Different reports on death toll suggest conflicting figures
Administration in Indore have confirmed six deaths so far, while mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava had put the death toll at 10. Locals from affected areas claimed that 16 persons, including a six-month-old child, had died due to the diarrhoea outbreak.
Meanwhile, officials confirmed that the outbreak had been brought under control.
Measures to Control the Outbreak
Chief Medical and Health Officer of Madhya Pradesh Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani said that a team of experts from the Kolkata-based National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (NIRBI) has arrived in Indore to probe the health crisis.
These experts will be providing technical assistance to the health department to contain the outbreak, Hasani added.
MP Congress Demands Resignations over Indore Deaths
State Congress president Jitu Patwari alleged that no action was taken against the issue even though citizens of Bhagirathpura had been complaining that the water flowing from municipal tap conditions was contaminated for the past eight months.
"Sixteen persons have died. These deaths are the murder of the mandate that people gave to the BJP in the previous elections. There must be a judicial probe into the deaths caused by contaminated drinking water, and those guilty should be given strict punishment," Patwari told reporters.
"They are also saying water currently being supplied through municipal tankers in Bhagirathpura is also contaminated," Patwari added.
Patwari threatened to launch an agitation against the ruling party on January 11 were their demands for rectification not met.
Along with the resignation of Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party has demanded registration of a culpable homicide case against Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava and civic officials concerned.
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Corruption led to the Indore Tragedy says ‘Waterman of India’ Rajendra Singh, a renowned water conservationist has termed the deaths due to contaminated drinking water as a "system-created disaster," alleging that deep-rooted corruption is to blame for the tragedy. Singh is popularly known as the ‘Waterman of India’ for his pioneering work in water conservation, reviving rivers and traditional water harvesting systems in Rajasthan. He won the Magsaysay award in 2001 and Stockholm Water Prize in 2015 for his work. He expressed alarm regarding the crisis unfolding in Indore, a city that holds the tag of India's cleanest city. "If such a tragedy can occur in the country's cleanest city, it shows how serious the condition of drinking water supply systems must be in other cities," Singh told PTI. "Indore's contaminated drinking water crisis is a system-created disaster. To save money, contractors lay drinking water pipelines in close proximity to drainage lines," Singh claimed. Government officials previously admitted that sewage overflow from toilets spilled into water mains, leading to the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea in the city. Singh blamed corruption for the episode. The Indore tragedy is the direct result of this corrupt system, he added. “The year-on-year decline in groundwater levels in Indore is the most worrying. I visited Indore for the first time in 1992. Even then, I had asked how long the city would depend on water from the Narmada river?" Singh said.
State Congress Demands Resignation of Vijayvargiya over ‘Ghanta’ Remark
Amid outrage surrounding the spread of infection and consequent deaths, the Congress has staged bell-ringing protests across Madhya Pradesh demanding the resignation of Kailash Vijayvargiya.
The senior minister on December 31, 2025 sparked a row when he used the word ‘ghanta’ as an answer to reporters’ question about developments in the water contamination crisis.
The Congress demanded a judicial inquiry and Vijayvargiya’s resignation. The minister holds the Urban Development and Housing portfolios, since Bhagirathpura is part of his Indore-1 assembly constituency.
Ujjain division revenue commissioner Ashish Singh reportedly suspended a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in neighbouring Dewas on Sunday for allegedly referring to a minister's (Vijayvargiya) controversial remark and the state Congress's allegations in an official order amid the Indore water contamination crisis, officials told PTI.
The SDM had issued a government order on Saturday to deploy subordinate revenue officers to maintain law and order in view of a Congress protest held in Dewas. In this order, he had copied an entire section of the Congress memorandum that targeted the BJP government and stated that Vijayvargiya’s use of the objectionable word reflected “inhumanity and authoritarianism”.
"The wording of a portion of the Congress memorandum was copied verbatim in the SDM’s order issued for official purposes. This amounts to serious negligence," an official told PTI.
was suspended on charges of serious negligence, indifference, and irregularities in the discharge of official duties.
The word "ghanta" has a range of meanings, but in common parlance, its usage often conveys nonsense.
(Written with agency inputs.)
