Indore official axed as deaths linked to ‘unsafe’ water hit 10

Indore official axed as deaths linked to ‘unsafe’ water hit 10

An official was dismissed from service and two others suspended even as the death toll climbed to 10 in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh where more than 2,000 people have fallen ill after consuming contaminated water supplied by the municipal corporation, officials said on Wednesday.

A three-member committee has also been formed to investigate the incident.

The deceased include a six-month-old child, who passed away on Wednesday, and six women. More than 100 people from Indore’s Bhagirathpura area have been admitted to hospitals in the past one week after drinking water from a municipal supply line.

While the authorities are yet to release the official death toll, a senior officer in the district administration said that the figure has crossed 10.

In-charge sub-engineer Shubham Shrivastava of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) was terminated while zonal officer Shaligram Sitole and assistant engineer Yogesh Joshi were suspended on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

“Till today, 7,992 houses were surveyed in which about 39,854 people were examined, out of which about 2,456 suspected patients were found, who were given first aid on the spot. Till today, 212 patients were admitted in hospitals, out of which 50 patients have been discharged. Currently, the number of patients admitted in hospitals is 162, and the number of patients admitted in ICU is 26,” a statement from the office of Chief Medical and Health Officer said.

Three-member panel

The three member panel to investigate the incident is headed by IAS officer Navjeevan Panwar, and consists of superintendent engineer Pradeep Nigam and associate professor at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Medical College Shailesh Rai. The panel will also investigate the delays in completing a tender issued in August for a fresh supply line in the area, a senior government official said.

Cabinet Minister and Indore-1 MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya termed the incident “unfortunate” and said the numbers of patients admitted to healthcare facilities were increasing constantly. “It was increasing yesterday [Tuesday] but has reduced today,” he said.

While Mr. Vijayvargiya remained deputed in the area, the Chief Minister also visited multiple hospitals to meet the patients.

IMC Commissioner Dileep Yadav told The Hindu that the three officials were responsible for clean water supply in the area but failed to detect the leakages in time.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh High Court also issued notices to the State authorities and sought a status report on the matter by January 2.

Hearing two petitions, the High Court also directed for free-of-cost treatment of patients after a petitioner, a resident of Bhagirathpura, alleged that the private hospitals were refusing treatment without money.

Meanwhile, the State Congress party has formed a five-member fact-finding panel to probe the tragedy.