Indore: Amid the health crisis in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area which came from contaminated water and killed several people, the Madhya Pradesh government, on Friday, took action against senior officials of the city’s municipal corporation.
The state government has issued a show-cause to the Indore Municipal Commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav and Additional Commissioner Rohit Sisonia, who has been transferred from Indore with immediate effect.
Pradeep Nigam, In-charge Superintendent Engineer of Water distribution department of Indore Municipal Corporation, has also been removed from his post.
Meanwhile, the state government has directed the Indore Municipal Corporation to fill the necessary posts with immediate effect.
The action from the state government came after the Chief Minister Mohan Yadav chaired a high-level meeting at his residence in Bhopal on Friday, during which, he issued many directions.
“I reviewed action being taken by the state government in Indore contaminated drinking water case with the Chief Secretary and other senior officials today and issued necessary directions. I also discussed the report presented by the Additional Chief Secretary of the State Urban Development Department,” Chief Minister Yadav said on X.
“I directed to issue show-cause notices to Indore Municipal Corporation Commissioner and Additional Commissioner. I directed to remove Additional Commissioner from Indore with immediate effect,” the Chief Minister added on X.
Indore’s contaminated water tragedy that killed several people and over 200 are still admitted in more than 27 hospitals, has raised question on the state administration and Indore Municipal Corporation.
Criticism started pouring not only from the Opposition Congress but from the BJP as well, and they are demanding strict action against those found responsible for this tragedy.
Veteran BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti raised her concern on Indore’s Bhagirathpura incident, saying that contaminated water resulting in the deaths of several people has brought a “shame” and “disgrace” for the entire state administration.
In a series of posts on her official social media platform X, Bharti said that “Indore has received awards for being the cleanest city in the country, such ugliness, filth and poisonous water that has swelled so many lives and death toll continues to rise every day.”
In another X post, the former Chief Minister without mentioning anyone, criticised the state government and said, “Who is saying that our plan didn’t work in Indore? And when you are not able to do anything then why you are sitting and drinking Bisleri bottles. There is no explanation for such a sin.”
Uncertainty over the number of deaths due to the consumption of contaminated water in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area still remains a matter of debate and speculations and the state administration and Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav have different views on it.
On Friday, Mayor Bhargava said on Friday that he has received information about 10 deaths due to a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area of the city.
Bhargava also clarified that the “state’s health department has mentioned only four deaths due to the diarrhoea outbreak in Bhagirathpura. However, I have received information about 10 deaths due to this outbreak”.
According to a fresh health bulletin issued by the Indore district administration on Friday, more than 1,400 people have been affected by vomiting and diarrhoea in Bhagirathpura over the past nine days.
“There are total 208 patients admitted in different hospitals in Indore and of them, 27 are being treated in ICUs. While 101 patients were discharged on Friday,” according to the state government’s report.
(IANS)
