Contaminated Water Deaths in Bhagirathpura Raise Alarm; MP High Court Demands Urgent Answers

During the hearing, the corporation admitted that drainage water, including from toilets, had entered the water supply line. However, when the division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi pressed for certainty on whether this was the sole cause of deaths, officials failed to provide a clear response. The court repeatedly questioned, “Are you also claiming with certainty that people died due to the mixing of drainage water?” but no definitive answer was given.

At the previous hearing, confusion arose over the number of deaths, with discrepancies between the figures cited by the Additional Advocate General and the Chief Secretary. Petitioners are being represented by senior advocates Ajay Bagadia, Manish Yadav, Ritesh Inani, and Anil Ojha.

The court also sought clarity on the complaint redressal system. Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, joining via video conferencing, stated that weekly water hearings are conducted and reports are taken daily by Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Sanjay Dubey. He cited the CM Helpline, water hearings, and the 311 app as channels for public complaints. The bench observed that officials seemed only to be “reading their own reports” rather than addressing systemic lapses.

Following the High Court’s criticism, the state government formed a state-level inquiry committee to probe the incident. The committee will be chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, General Administration, Sanjay Kumar Shukla, with Principal Secretary, Public Health Engineering, P. Narahari, and Commissioner, Directorate of Urban Administration and Development, Sanket Bhondwe as members. Commissioner, Indore Division, Sudam Khade has been appointed member-secretary. The committee is expected to submit its report within one month.

Administrative action has already been taken at the local level. The Municipal Commissioner was removed, and both the Additional Commissioner and Superintending Engineer have been suspended. However, the report by Additional Collector Panwar Navjeevan Vijay has yet to be submitted. The ICMR team has already shared its findings with the government.

Residents of Bhagirathpura continue to fear unsafe water, as court proceedings highlight the gaps in monitoring, complaint management, and timely corrective measures. Authorities have been urged to ensure preventive action and transparency in public health governance.