Eleven deaths so far, over 1,400 people affected, and the wallowing cries of families who trusted the water they drew from taps only to be left with nothing in life.
Bhagirathpura’s water contamination crisis has turned Indore’s “cleanest city” tag into a grim irony.
The authorities initially described it as an unfortunate contamination. But it now bears the markers of administrative neglect. Delayed decisions and warnings went unheeded until it was too late.
The contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura has been traced to a leak in the main supply pipeline near a public toilet. The toilet is near a local police outpost.
Investigators suspect sewage entered the drinking water line through this breach.
Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav reportedly confirmed that evidence of contamination due to leakage had been found and warned that such negligence would not be tolerated.
Urban Administration Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya reportedly acknowledged that sewage mixing into drinking water was the likely cause, pointing specifically to the leak near the police outpost.
Health department reports have reinforced this conclusion. Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Madhav Hasani was quoted as saying that water samples tested at MGM Medical College clearly established that residents of Bhagirathpura fell ill and died after consuming contaminated water.
Behind the official confirmations are stories unfolding quietly inside homes.
Reports have emerged of an elderly woman sitting in a narrow lane and weeping softly. She has been repeatedly murmuring that a sense of joy pervaded her family after ten years. But the contaminated water cruelly took it away.
The story of a young mother is an assault on the senses. Her body never produced milk. Not due to illness, but biological reality. On a doctor’s advice, her baby was fed packaged milk mixed with tap water. The same water the family trusted. Their five-and-a-half-month-old child is no more.
The child’s father works with a private courier company. After years of prayers, his son was born healthy.
Two days ago, a news portal reported, the baby developed fever and diarrhoea. He was taken to a doctor and given medicines, but his condition worsened. By Sunday night, he was critically ill. He died on the way to the hospital. The family believes the illness came from the water.
The mother drifts in and out of consciousness, while her young daughter sits silently. She understands that something has broken which cannot be repaired.
As these personal losses mounted, it has emerged that the infrastructure failure was not unforeseen.
According to those familiar with the matter, a tender to replace the Bhagirathpura pipeline was floated as early as August 2025 at an estimated cost of Rs 2.4 crore, specifically citing complaints of dirty and foul-smelling water. No work began. No emergency repairs were carried out. Only after people started dying was the tender hurriedly opened.
A senior water department official, speaking to a media house on condition of anonymity, said the situation was not a failure but amounted to abandonment.
Under the AMRUT 2.0 mission, Indore received water infrastructure projects worth approximately Rs 1,700 crore in 2023–24. Contracts under Package-1, worth Rs 579 crore, covering an intake well, water treatment plant and pipeline, have been awarded, media reports highlighted.
Three other packages (for gravity mains and trunk lines, distribution networks and overhead tanks) with a cumulative value of Rs 1,200 crore, remain in the tendering stage.
The Water Resources Department has also admitted that delays and weak monitoring have resulted in multiple sewage and drinking water intersections across the city, particularly in older localities like Bhagirathpura. Local residents say these risks were repeatedly flagged.
One Bhagirathpura resident told a media house that she had complained several times to the local councillor about foul-smelling water, but no action was taken. Another showed samples of muddy. Foul tap water from his home added to the growing evidence.
Officials kept fighting over contracts, he claimed. Meanwhile, sewage continued to flow into their drinking water unchecked.
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports and issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary, seeking a detailed report within two weeks.
The Commission said that if the reports are true, the incident constitutes a serious violation of human rights, particularly because complaints were allegedly ignored before the deaths occurred.
A three-member probe committee has been formed, with the investigation handed to the Additional Chief Secretary. Some lower-level officials have been suspended. However, the administration has not yet answered key questions. Why was the tender not opened? Why wasn’t the leak repaired after the initial complaints?
The answers elude us. And a haunting question lingers for the bereaved: why did the system respond only after lives were lost?
Also Read: Surat and Indore Share the Title of India’s Cleanest Cities in 2023 https://www.vibesofindia.com/surat-and-indore-share-the-title-of-india-cleanest-cities-in-2023/
