After the death of at least six people due to vomiting and diarrhea due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura area of Indore, the cleanest city of the country, people’s confidence in the water reaching every home through the tap connection of the Municipal Corporation has been badly shaken.
Due to the fear of this water still being contaminated, the people of Bhagirathpura are afraid of using it for drinking and are preferring to buy water from outside instead.
Bhagirathpura area has a large population of low and middle income group people.
Sunita, who lives in the Marathi locality of this area, told PTI, “Yes, we are afraid to drink the water coming from the municipal corporation’s tap connection. So many people have lost their lives due to drinking contaminated water in our area. Now we need solid proof that the water coming from the tap connection is clean. Only then will we be able to drink this water.
He told that his family is currently buying bottled water from the market and they have to pay Rs 20 to Rs 30 for one such bottle.
Sunita said, “Dirty water has been coming to our area through tap connection for the last two-three years, but our complaints were not heard. What should the public do now? Does anyone listen to us? For a long time, we have been purifying water by adding alum and boiling it before drinking.
People’s confidence in the cleanliness of drinking water in Bhagirathpura is such that bottled water is being used even in tea shops so that customers can be assured that tea made from this water is safe for their health.
Tushar Verma, the operator of the tea shop, said, “We have been using bottled water to make tea since the contaminated drinking water scandal. However, we have not increased the prices of tea.
Meanwhile, the local administration has been tackling the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea in Bhagirathpura as well as sensitizing people about the use of drinking water.
District Magistrate Shivam Verma said that Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign is being run with the help of NGO workers in Bhagirathpura.
He said, “These workers are asking people to drink water after boiling it for 15 minutes and currently use only the drinking water being distributed through municipal tankers.”
The District Magistrate said that the process of ‘chlorination’ is going on in the tube wells along with the Municipal Corporation’s water supply pipeline in Bhagirathpura.
Experts said that under ‘chlorination’, chlorine or chlorine-containing compounds are added to water, the main objective of which is to make water potable by killing bacteria, viruses and other germs.
He told that this process is used to prevent water-borne diseases.
The administration has so far confirmed the death of six people due to vomiting and diarrhea due to drinking contaminated water in Bhagirathpura area.
However, Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said on Friday that he has received information about the death of 10 patients in this outbreak.
Local citizens have claimed that 16 people, including a six-month-old baby, have died due to this outbreak.
Indore is dependent on the Narmada river for its water needs. Through the pipeline laid by the Municipal Corporation, the water of Narmada River is brought to Indore, 80 kilometers away from Jalud in the neighboring Khargone district, and delivered to every home.
In this city, which is called the financial capital of Madhya Pradesh, water is supplied through tap connection every second day.
