What makes the deaths and the situation more glaring rather more painful is the fact that chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav happens to be the district in charge minister of Indore which is the cleanest city in the country. Hence, Indore Municipal Corporation, Indore mayor and the local administration were supposed to be more alert and watchful if there was any major problem people in the city were facing.
Bhopal: When the entire country was preparing itself to welcome enthusiastically the New Year, this one photo snapped on December 31 (Wednesday) night, just a few hours prior to advent of 2026, stood in a sharp contrast.
No celebration but gloomy faces all around in the hall of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, the venue of official meeting, chaired by chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav, convened to discuss measures to control a situation which can be nothing but unprecedented in the city like Indore, the cleanest city in the country, known as financial capital of Madhya Pradesh which is often showcased to woo investors to the state.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav can be seen in the picture, released by the government on Wednesday night, flanked by Urban Development and Housing minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, Water Resources minister Tulsiram Silavat, local member of parliament Shankar Lalwani, MLAs Malini Gaud and Golu Shukla, additional chief secretary to CM Neeraj Mandloi, commissioner, Indore division Sudam Khade, commissioner, Indore Municipal Corporation Dilip Kumar Yadav and police commissioner Santosh Kumar Singh and some local public representatives.
Who can believe that due to lethargic and indifferent attitude of authorities damaged drinking water pipeline will continue to be neglected for months together resulting in sewage mixed with drinking water getting into stomach and intestines of hundreds of people and also resulting in death of 10 of them and illness of many others?
But fact remains that sewage mixed with drinking water, was allowed to be supplied to Bhagirathpura ward and there was no action on the part of mayor and officials concerned from Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Public Health Engineering (PHE) despite the fact the local residents started complaining to the authorities about illness caused to many of them due to supply of contaminated water to their houses.
इंदौर के भागीरथपुरा की दुखद घटना से प्रभावित हर परिवार के साथ राज्य सरकार पूरी संवेदनशीलता के साथ खड़ी है।
आज इंदौर के अस्पतालों में उपचाररत प्रभावित नागरिकों, उनके परिजनों एवं उपचार में जुटे चिकित्सकों से भेंट कर स्थिति की जानकारी ली और मरीजों का कुशलक्षेम जाना। pic.twitter.com/0BTe1ZRi8V
— Dr Mohan Yadav (@DrMohanYadav51) December 31, 2025
It is reported that tender for repairing the damaged pipe lines was floated in August this year but concerned officials continued to sit over the entire process and no one showed urgency to expedite the process.
The authorities woke up only when at least 5 to 6 persons had died and a good number of other residents had to be rushed to hospitals with symptoms of diarrhoea. The deceased include a five-month-old kid and six women.
As per local administration, as many as 26 patients are being treated in intensive care unit (ICU) of hospitals in Indore.
Only a week back Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in Madhya Pradesh who during public meetings in Gwalior and Rewa, organised to mark birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, praised chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav saying he was working with more energy than his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan to usher Madhya Pradesh to a greater height. Hence, these deaths must be a major setback to the government in general and the chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav in particular.
What makes the deaths and the situation more glaring rather more painful is the fact that chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav happens to be the district in charge minister of Indore which is the cleanest city in the country. Hence, Indore Municipal Corporation, Indore mayor and the local administration were supposed to be more alert and watchful if there was any major problem people in the city were facing.
The Opposition Congress has already raised this point regarding the CM being the district in charge minister of Indore.
प्रिय #इंदौर वासियों, ज़रा विचार कीजिए :
भाजपा ने आपके वोट की कीमत आखिर क्या रखी? pic.twitter.com/7e8e9cKsBO— MP Congress (@INCMP) December 31, 2025
In this tragic incident, the deaths did not take place in any remote area of Indore but in the very heart of the city which at least two of Dr Mohan Yadav cabinet’s ministers belong to- Urban Development and Housing minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and Water Resources minister Tulsiram Silavat.
Needless to mention, responsibility of water supply in the city is of Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) which has mayor from the BJP- Pushyamitra Bhargava and public health engineering (PHE).
Bhargava was RSS choice when the election to the post of mayor held in the year 2022.
Public Health Engineering (PHE) department is headed by minister Sampatiya Uikey who faced accusation from an ex-MLA of getting commission of Rs 1000 crore in Jal Jeevan Mission scheme which involves a fund of Rs 30000 crore. The minister, however, dubbed the accusation as baseless and scandalous saying the accusation was meant for tarnishing her image.
The IMC is governed by Urban Development and Housing department whose minister Kailash Vijayvargiya reside in the city itself.
It is said Bhagirathpura ward, the epicentre of death and illness due to contaminated water supply, falls under Vijayvargiya’s constituency.
मैं और मेरी टीम पिछले दो दिनों से बिना सोए प्रभावित क्षेत्र में लगातार स्थिति सुधारने में जुटी हुई है। दूषित पानी से मेरे लोग पीड़ित हैं और कुछ हमें छोड़कर चले गए, इस गहरे दु:ख की अवस्था में मीडिया के एक प्रश्न पर मेरे शब्द गलत निकल गए। इसके लिए मैं खेद प्रकट करता हूँ।
लेकिन जब…
— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) December 31, 2025
As per authorities admission who briefed the CM about the situation on Wednesday evening, during screening of more than 40000 people in Bhagirathpura ward in the past two to three days as many as 2456 suspected cases were found with symptoms (caused by intake of contaminated water) out of whom 212 were admitted to hospitals.
As per authorities, 50 of the patients admitted were discharged from hospitals after treatment while remaining patients are being treated.
Talking to media persons on Wednesday night chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav said he visited patients in hospitals and condition of most of patients was stable.
He said an enquiry was underway into the negligence that occurred at the initial stage.
CM admitted that problem was found in 40% of the area that arose due to old and damaged pipelines which, he said, were being repaired. “Water supply has been found to be clean in approximately 60 percent of the area”, he said.
Describing the incident as tragic the CM said, “Strict action will be taken against the responsible officers and agencies based on the detailed enquiry report.”
He said his government would take decisive steps to check recurrence of such an incident.
The CM said, “clean drinking water is currently being supplied through tankers. Upon the resumption of the regular water supply, immediate corrective action will be taken if any leakage or contamination is detected.
Earlier on Tuesday, CM posted on X that the concerned zonal officer of zone no. 4 (Shaligram Shitole) and the in-charge assistant engineer of PHE (Yogesh Joshi) have been suspended with immediate effect, and the in-charge sub-engineer of PHE Shubham Srivastava has been dismissed from service with immediate effect.
A committee of senior officers has been constituted to investigate the incident. Any kind of negligence regarding people’s health will not be tolerated, he warned.
Though there are reports about as many as 10 persons dying after drinking contaminated water, the chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr. Madhav Prasad Hasani has confirmed information regarding death of 3 persons- Nandal Pal (70), Urmila Yadav (60) and Tara Kori (65) who, he said, died of diarrhoea.
However, he added, other reported fatalities were under investigation to determine if these were linked with contamination.
The Opposition Congress has blamed the government for the entire situation and said it was a result of criminal negligence on the part of the state government and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC).
State Congress president Jitu Patwari visited the patients admitted to hospitals and described the deaths as extremely tragic and a result of government negligence and corruption.
Poison in water was supplied to residents in Indore as sewage got mixed with drinking water.
Patwari blamed Indore Municipal Corporation, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava and municipal commissioner for the entire incident demanding FIR with police and strict action agains them.
He highlighted political irony saying Indore voters elected MP, all 9 MLAs in the district and also the Mayor from BJP. The city gave two cabinet ministers and CM Mohan Yadav himself was district in-charge minister yet in return, he alleged, residents in Indore got “poison in water.”
High Court Seeks Report From Govt
Meanwhile, as reported in local media, two petitions were filed in the High Court, Indore bench- one by Indore High Court Bar Association president and the other by a Bhagirathpura resident. After a hearing on the petitions the court has sought a report on the entire situation on January 2.
The government advocate, during the hearing, submitted before the court that those who had fallen ill were being treated in as many as 10 hospitals on government expenses.
