After seven deaths linked to water contamination were reported in Bhagirathpura area of Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district last month, at least nine people have now fallen ill after consuming contaminated drinking water in Mhow tehsil, PTI news agency officials said on Friday.
They said these cases of water-borne diseases were reported from Patti Bazaar and Chander Marg areas on Thursday evening.
“Nine patients have been hospitalized while several others are recuperating at home,” an official told PTI.
Indore Collector strikes
According to a report, Indore Collector Shivam Verma visited patients undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mhow late at night. He also spoke to the residents of the affected areas, the official said.
Verma directed the health department to ensure proper and effective treatment for all patients and also instructed the Mhow Cantonment Board to check the water quality and maintain cleanliness in the area.
Read also | 7 dead, 116 hospitalized due to water contamination in Indore
“The government is closely monitoring the situation,” Verma said. He added that affected areas will be surveyed and residents suffering from any symptoms will be given appropriate treatment and critical patients will be admitted to hospital.
“Currently, no patient is in critical condition and some of them will be discharged during the day,” Verma told PTI.
The official said personnel from the health department were at the site since Friday morning under the guidance of Chief Medical and Health Officer (CHO) Dr Madhav Hasani.
Indore: A civic worker during the restoration work of Narmada water pipeline due to death due to consumption of contaminated water in Bhagirathpura area of Indore, the cleanest city of the country.(PTI)
Mhow MLA Usha Thakur also visited the hospital to meet the affected people. “A team from Indore Medical College and other specialist doctors are also being sent to the spot,” the official said.
Death due to water contamination
Last month, several people fell ill and seven deaths linked to water contamination were reported in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area. PTI officials had earlier said that contaminated water was found in 51 wells in Bhagirathapura.
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While residents of the locality claimed the outbreak has claimed 25 lives so far, a status report submitted by the Madhya Pradesh government to the Supreme Court on January 15 listed seven deaths, including a five-month-old boy.
The Mahatma Gandhi Government Medical College Death Audit Committee report said 15 deaths in Bhagirathapura could be linked to the issue.
What is the cause of the contamination?
The Madhya Pradesh government on January 20 told the Madhya Pradesh High Court that bacterial contamination of drinking water had led to widespread infection in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area.
Two public interest litigations (PILs) related to the deaths of people after drinking contaminated water in Bhagirathpura were being heard simultaneously in the bench.
During the hearing of the petitions, the court asked how the water supplied to the residents of the locality – the epicenter of diarrhea and vomiting in India’s cleanest city – became so contaminated and led to such a great tragedy.
Indore: School students are helped to wade through debris between pipelines and sewage works following deaths due to consumption of allegedly contaminated water in Bhagirathpura area of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Thursday, January 8, 2026. (PTI Photo)(PTI01_08_20126(PTI)
Appearing via video link, Chief Secretary Anurag Jain told a Supreme Court bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi that contaminated water was found in 51 tube wells in Bhagirathpura and the test report revealed the presence of E. coli bacteria.
The chief secretary said E. coli was the cause of the widespread infection in the area.
A government lawyer responded that due to leaking pipes in the area, drinking water had been contaminated due to the mixing of sewage into it. The source of this contamination is also the sewage system of the public toilet.
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According to health experts, E. coli is commonly found in water through sewage or faeces and drinking water infected with the bacteria causes vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain and fever, PTI reported.
The High Court then reserved its order on petitioners’ plea for a judicial inquiry into the deaths of several people due to vomiting and diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water and for lodging an FIR against those responsible for the tragedy.
She scheduled the next meeting for January 28.
What does the government do?
Government lawyers told the Madhya Pradesh high court that a high-level committee has been set up to investigate the causes of the drinking water contamination, fix responsibility and suggest measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
However, petitioners’ lawyer Ajay Bagaria expressed strong distrust of the committee and said before the division bench that it was formed to hide the truth about the drinking water disaster.
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Bagadia then urged the court to set up a committee headed by a retired high court judge to conduct a judicial inquiry into the tragedy.
He also urged the HC to order registration of FIR against officials and other individuals responsible for deaths due to contaminated drinking water.
(With input from agencies)
