Water contamination in Indore a system-made disaster, claims 'waterman' Rajendra Singh

Indore (MP), Jan 4 (PTI) Renowned water conservationist Rajendra Singh on Sunday described the death of at least six persons due to contaminated drinking water in Indore as a "system-created disaster" and alleged that corruption lay at the root of the tragedy.

If such a tragedy can occur in the country's cleanest city, it shows how serious would the condition of drinking water supply systems in other cities, Singh, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and widely hailed as ‘waterman of India’, told PTI.

Civic officials have said a leakage was found in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a police outpost in the Bhagirthpura area, at a spot over which a toilet has been constructed. They claimed that the drinking water got contaminated due to this leakage.

"Indore's contaminated drinking water crisis is a system-created disaster. To save money, contractors lay drinking water pipelines close to drainage lines. Corruption has ruined the entire system. The Indore tragedy is the result of this corrupt system," Singh claimed.

Indore depends on the Narmada river for its water needs. Through pipelines laid by the municipal corporation, water from the Narmada is brought to Indore from Jalud in neighbouring Khargone district, located 80 km away, and supplied to households.

Water is supplied through tap connections on alternate days in Indore, which is called the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh.

"The year-on-year decline in groundwater levels in Indore is the most worrying. I visited Indore for the first time in 1992. Even then, I had asked how long the city would depend on water from the Narmada river?" Singh said.

If the city has continued to rely on the Narmada water even after so many years, it means that people in the government system did not want to create a responsible water management mechanism, he claimed.

A large amount of money is lost to corruption in the project to bring Narmada water to Indore from 80 kilometres away, the conservationist charged.

According to civic officials, around Rs 25 crore is spent every month from the municipal corporation's treasury only on electricity bills for this project.

The huge expenditure involved in the project can also be gauged from statements made by Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava.

During a seminar in the city on June 27, 2024, Bhargava had said, "Ever since I became mayor, I have been joking that Indore is one of the richest cities in Asia because we drink water that costs Rs 21 per kilolitre and also let it flow wastefully. We are not drinking water, but ghee." The administration has confirmed six deaths so far in the recent diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in Bhagirthpura. However, Mayor Bhargava on January 2 said he had information about the death of 10 patients due to the outbreak.

Local residents have claimed that 16 persons, including a 6-month-old child, have died in the tragedy. PTI HWP LAL GK