‘PM Modi remains silent when poor die’: Rahul Gandhi on deaths in Indore due to contaminated water

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh about the deaths of at least 10 persons from consuming contaminated drinking water in Indore, and remarked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains silent whenever the poor die.

Claiming that the state had become an “epicentre of misgovernance”, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha questioned why authorities did not pay heed to residents repeatedly complaining about the “dirty, foul-smelling water”.

Over 1,400 persons had fallen ill with symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area, with cases being first reported on December 24. Authorities had earlier said that residents of the area had complained that the water supplied to them had an unusual smell.

More than 200 persons had also been hospitalised.

On Friday, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said that he had received information about 10 deaths due to contaminated water, PTI reported. However, residents of the area have claimed that 14 persons, including an infant, died.

The state health department has not yet confirmed this number.

Chief Medical and Health Officer Madhav Prasad Hasani on Thursday said laboratory reports from a city medical college had confirmed that the drinking water in the locality had been contaminated due to a pipeline leakage, PTI reported.

Authorities had earlier said that a leakage was found in the main water supply pipeline in the area above which a toilet had been constructed, and that the drinking water may have been contaminated as a result.

On Friday, Gandhi alleged that not water but poison had been distributed in Indore while the authorities remained in deep slumber. “Mourning has spread from home to home, the poor are helpless – and to top it off, arrogant statements from BJP leaders,” he added.

State minister Kailash Vijayvargiya on Thursday used an objectionable word on camera when questioned by a TV journalist about the deaths in Indore, PTI reported.

Gandhi asked: “How did sewage mix into the drinking water? Why wasn’t the supply shut off in time? When will action be taken against the responsible officers and leaders?”

Noting that clean water was not a favour but a right to life, the Congress leader added: “And for the murder of this right, the BJP’s double-engine government, its negligent administration, and its callous leadership are entirely responsible.”

Gandhi said: “Madhya Pradesh has now become the epicentre of misgovernance – from deaths due to cough syrups to rats in government hospitals claiming children’s lives, and to deaths from drinking sewage-mixed water. And every time the poor die, Modi ji, as always, remains silent.”

Supply additional water tankers, HC tells civic body

On Friday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered the municipal corporation in Indore to supply additional water tankers and urged authorities to “uphold the beauty” the city, The Indian Express reported.

A bench of Justices Dwarkadhish Bansal and Rajendra Kumar Vani was hearing a public interest litigation about the deaths. The bench asked the municipal corporation and the state government to supply clean water on a regular basis and to provide treatment to those affected.

“This is big news,” the newspaper quoted Bansal as saying. “If people are dying because of the water, then this is wrong… Keep upholding the beauty of Indore.”

During the proceedings, the municipal corporation submitted that it had already sent 30 water tankers.

“I want you to send additional water tankers and send photographs to the lawyer,” the bench said. “We should send the tankers within 10 minutes...”

In response, the municipal corporation said that four more water tankers would be sent immediately.