Congress legislators protested in the MP assembly over the fatal water contamination in Indore's Bhagirathpura. Led by Umang Singhar, they demanded the resignation of local MLA and minister Kailash Vijayvargiya over the government's failure.
Congress Protests Indore Water Crisis in Assembly
Congress legislators in Madhya Pradesh staged a massive protest over the water contamination issue in Indore's Bhagirathpura locality on the premises of the state assembly on the second day of the budget session on Tuesday and demanded action against those responsible for the incident. Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar and other Congress MLAs symbolically carry dirty water in bottles to mark their protest on the occasion. They stressed that the state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is MLA from the area, should immediately resign from his post.
'Govt failed to provide clean drinking water': Opposition
"This is dirty water in my hand which led to several people dying in Indore's Bhagirathpura locality. There is the same situation in other cities and villages across the state. The government takes tax from the general public for drinking water but why do they not have the right to get clean drinking water? The state government claims in the House that they provide fresh and clean water to the public but they are not receiving the clean drinking water," Singhar told ANI.
He further emphasised that every individual could not afford RO (water purifier) and poor people could not afford to install water purifier machines in their homes. They used to drink water from tap water connections but the state government left them to consume dirty water.
"Those who are sitting in power; are they not responsible for it? Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is the minister in charge of Indore, does this not make it his responsibility? The state's Urban Development and Housing comes from the area; does this not make it his responsibility? The government should immediately seek the resignation of the responsible minister. If the CM fails to take his resignation, he should himself resign from the post," Singhar added.
Among the protesters, Congress MLA Sachin Yadav said that around 35 people died in the Indore's Bhagirathpura incident but the responsible persons and minister who is MLA from the area yet not resigned from his post. "We demand that the state government and the minister who failed to provide clean drinking water to people of Indore, do not have the right to be on their post and they should immediately resign," Congress MLA Yadav told ANI.
Government Responds, Assures Action
On the other hand, BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma said that the state government took action against those responsible in relation to the incident that occurred in Indore's Bhagirthpura.
"The Chief Minister has taken cognizance of the incident that had happened in Bhagirathpura and action was taken against those responsible for it. Instructions have been given to provide clean drinking water to all the people be it in panchayat, municipal council, municipal corporation. If any negligence is found action will be taken against them. Safety of the people is the responsibility of the Mohan Yadav government," Sharma told ANI.
Meanwhile, MP Minister Nirmala Bhuriya said, "It is not like that there is contaminated water across the state but if the arrangement was found worse at some points, the state government was working to resolve the issue. Our government in the center as well as in the state is committed to provide clean drinking water to the public of the state."
Notably, the water contamination incident in Indore's Bhagirathpura sparked widespread criticism, as it claimed several lives and affected many families.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)