State response on Indore water deaths insensitive, High Court says

A division bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, comprising Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi, on Tuesday heard petitions related to the deaths and illnesses in Bhagirathpura. The High Court has summoned Chief Secretary Anurag Jain to appear before it and apprise it of the inquiry, orders to fix accountability, disciplinary and penal action, compensation to victims, and action taken to prevent water contamination in the state.

During the hearing, the state informed the court about the fatalities and the steps taken so far. Additional Advocate General Rahul Sethi submitted, “As many as eight deaths have been recorded. The problem which we are facing (is that) certain deaths are because of cardiac arrest and diagnosed illnesses. We have formed a committee to probe the deaths. They will be providing a report within several days.”

The bench expressed strong displeasure over the manner in which the situation had been handled. Justice Shukla observed, “Such an insensitive response from the government… this incident has brought such a bad name to Indore, which is one of the cleanest cities of the country. It has become a news matter all over India and the world too.”

Excavation work at the pipeline

The petitions pertain to the contamination of drinking water in Bhagirathpura as well as other affected localities of Indore. The court recalled that on the previous date of hearing, directions had already been issued to the state government and the Indore Municipal Corporation to ensure a supply of clean drinking water in the affected areas and to bear the cost of treatment.

Petitioners who filed public interest litigations had submitted that despite court directions, the drinking water supplied to the affected areas is not clean. It was further argued that the affected persons are not getting proper treatment. The petitioners contended that complaints regarding dirty water had been made by residents before the incident, and had timely cognisance been taken, the tragedy could have been avoided.

Advocate Ajay Bagadia said, “The Mayor-in-Council had passed the order in 2022 for laying the new pipeline for the supply of drinking water, but because of the non-disbursement of the funds by erring officers of the Corporation, the said work could not be carried out.”

He said that in 2017-2018, 60 water samples were taken from various places in Indore, out of which 59 were found to be non-portable. He submitted that “despite the said report of the MP Pollution Control Board, no action was taken for prevention or rectification.”

He argued that “erring officers are responsible not only for civil liabilities but also for criminal liabilities; therefore, they should not only be saddled with the heavy compensation but also with criminal liabilities”.

The petitioners have prayed for the constitution of a high-level committee for inquiry.

Before issuing further directions, the court observed that “Right to Life under Article 21 includes right to clean drinking water.” The bench stated that the issues and reliefs would be categorised and proceeded to outline emergency, preventive and corrective measures.

As part of emergency directions, the court ordered that respondents should supply safe drinking water to the affected areas, and directed “stopping use of contaminated sources, specific pipelines, overhead tanks, borewells, rivers”. It also directed “medical screening of affected residents and free treatment in government and empanelled private hospitals”.

On preventive and corrective measures, the court directed that respondents shall “conduct water quality testing, undertake replacement/repair of pipelines (especially where sewer lines and water lines run parallel), ensure installation of online water quality monitoring systems, and prepare a long-term water safety plan for the city”.