03 January,2026 09:54 AM IST | Indore | Agencies
A man shows a sample of the drinking water; (right) exposed water pipeline in Bhagirathpura which leaked, leading to water contamination in the area. Pics/PTI
City Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava on Friday said he has received information about 10 deaths due to a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area of the city.
However, local residents have claimed that 15 individuals have died due to the health crisis. The health department has not confirmed this claim.
"According to health department data, four people have died due to the diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura. However, I have received information about 10 deaths due to this outbreak," Bhargava said.
To a question about suspected cholera spread in the area, the mayor said only the health department could provide information on the matter.
More than 1400 people have been affected by vomiting and diarrhoea in Bhagirathpura over the past nine days.
A health department official, citing the situation till Thursday night, said that 272 patients were admitted to hospitals in the area, of whom 71 have been discharged.
The official said 32 of the 201 patients currently hospitalised are undergoing treatment in intensive care units.
Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani said on Thursday that laboratory test reports from a city medical college had confirmed that the drinking water from the locality was contaminated due to a leakage in a pipeline.
Officials said a leakage was found in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura, at a spot over which a toilet has been constructed. They claimed the leakage from the toilet led to contamination.
Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Dubey said, "We are closely examining the entire drinking water supply pipeline in Bhagirathpura to find out if there is any leakage elsewhere." He said after inspection, clean water was supplied to households in Bhagirathpura through the pipeline on Thursday, though as a precaution, people have been advised to use the water for drinking only after boiling it.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has ordered disciplinary action against senior Indore Municipal Corporation officials, including the immediate transfer of an additional commissioner from the city.
A child born after 10 years of fervent prayers and vows died within days due to water contamination that has claimed several lives.
The family claims it has rejected the government's compensation for the death of the child. The government has announced an ex-gratia of R2 lakh each to the families of the deceased persons.
An eerie silence prevailed in an alley in the Marathi Mohalla of the Bhagirathpura area, where six-month-old Avyan Sahu lived with his family.
1400
No. of people affected
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeps trumpeting the Jal Jeevan Mission but was silent on deaths caused by contaminated water in Indore. He alleged that the "Modi government and the BJP failed to provide either clean water or clean air to the country."
"This is the same Indore city that has clinched the âCleanest City' title for the eighth consecutive time in the central government's Swachh Sarvekshan survey. It's a shameful state of affairs that, due to the BJP's incompetence, people here are desperate for clean water," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted the BJP's double-engine government and said PM Modi is always silent whenever the poor die. Gandhi alleged that Madhya Pradesh has become the epicentre of misgovernance and cited various instances of casualties reportedly due to cough syrups, poor hygiene at government hospitals and now due to contaminated water.
"Not water, but poison was distributed in Indore, and the administration remained in deep slumber," he said in a post on X.
