Residents of Indore's Bhagirathpura are afraid to drink even tanker-supplied water after a contamination incident caused illnesses and deaths. Despite official assurances, locals have lost trust and are buying their own drinking water.
Residents of Indore's Bhagirathpura area remain afraid of consuming even the tanker-supplied water following a contaminated drinking water incident that left several people ill and claimed lives. Despite assurances from the municipal corporation and the deployment of water tankers, locals said that they didn't have trust in the water supply system.
A local resident Gabbar Lashkari told ANI, "We had been complaining about dirty water for several days, but no one was listening and several people were falling ill. My daughter, Kanak Lashkari (15), is currently admitted to the Arvindo hospital. My mother, aged 93, fell ill on December 24, but after treatment she has now recovered. We are now buying water for drinking, and for other uses, we rely on government boring water. The municipal corporation is supplying drinking water via tankers, but we are afraid to consume it. We no longer have trust in this supply. This is destruction being carried out in the name of development."
Official Acknowledges Fear, Cites Supply Efforts
On the other hand, BJP Councillor from the area (Ward 11), Kamal Waghela said that it would take time to regain the public trust. "Since the day people began falling ill, we have been supplying Narmada water via tankers and advising people to consume it after boiling. Though there is fear among the people and some doubt on the Naramada water supply. We are supplying water through 50 tankers. Now, it is good that there are fewer patients and no news of any additional death. Health officials are conducting door-to-door surveys and collecting samples. Though it will take time for people to regain trust," BJP councillor said.
Faulty Infrastructure and Delays Blamed for Crisis
He further highlighted that Narmada water supply line was beneath and drainage runs above, it needed to be changed and they were making changes bringing water supply line above and drainage beneath. "When I was elected three years ago, I had demanded changes to the Narmada water supply and drainage line. Here, the drainage line runs above and beneath Narmada water pipeline; as a result, the Narmada pipeline has decayed. This is what we are changing, now we have made the drainage line below and Narmada pipeline above at 30 people. It should be maintained...Responsibility for Narmada water lies with municipal officer Sanjeev Srivastava. Despite issuing a tender for a new pipeline, he has kept the work stalled for six months. Officers do not carry out our work quickly... It has now been six days, yet the reason for the mixing of drainage water with the Narmada pipeline has not been identified," the Councillor added.
Meanwhile, another local resident Durga das Maurya said that after the outbreak, they were receiving clean drinking water via tankers from the municipal corporation. For the rest of their work, they received water from a boring facility.
Minister Vows Micro-Checking of Water Supply
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya stressed that micro-checking in the entire colony is in progress and will be completed in 8-10 days. "There were possibilities of contamination of water with sewage; therefore, treatment had already begun earlier, and the same treatment continues now. Micro-checking is underway across the entire colony and will take 8 to 10 days...", he said. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)