Won’t delve into statistics, govt stands with everyone: CM Yadav on Indore water deaths

Bhopal: Amid conflicting death figures in the Indore water contamination case, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said on Wednesday that his government won’t dive into data and instead stand with everyone.

“The loss of even a single life is extremely painful for us. Therefore, we don’t delve into statistics. It’s a different matter that the administration follows its own procedures. Generally, only those cases where post-mortems were performed were considered valid figures,” he said.

The confusion over the number of deaths due to contaminated water in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area continued after the district administration distributed compensation cheques to the kin of 18 victims on Tuesday, while maintaining the official figure at seven.

“This is a very sad incident. No matter who the people are, when it comes to providing relief, we will not look at the figures; we will stand with everyone,” Yadav told reporters when asked about the exact death toll due to contaminated water in Indore.

While a top Indore division official said that seven deaths have been reported so far as per the health department, officials have been maintaining six fatalities linked to the water contamination.

Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said on January 2 that he had received information about the death of 10 patients in a diarrhoea outbreak linked to contaminated water in Indore, the country's cleanest city. Locals, however, have claimed 17 people, including a six-month-old child, have died in the outbreak.