The death toll in the tragic water contamination incident in Indore has climbed to ten, raising serious questions about civic preparedness and accountability. The outbreak of diarrhoea, caused by sewage mixing with drinking water in the Bhagirathpura area, has exposed a critical failure in infrastructure maintenance.
A Warning Ignored: Corporator's Pleas Fell on Deaf Ears
Shockingly, this tragedy could potentially have been averted. BJP corporator from Ward 11, Kamal Waghela, had been raising alarms about the deteriorating water pipelines for nearly two years. About a year after the BJP swept the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) polls in July 2022, Waghela formally wrote to the civic body, urging it to replace the old and worn-out drinking water pipelines in Bhagirathpura, which falls under his ward.
As severe criticism mounted against the IMC and the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh following the outbreak, Waghela wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday. In his communication, he alleged that his repeated requests to replace the water pipelines were deliberately put on the back burner by civic officials.
Paperwork Delays and a Stalled Tender
Opening a direct front against IMC officials, Waghela detailed the bureaucratic delays. He stated that he had been warning since 2023 about the possibility of water contamination and had even lodged a complaint on the CM Helpline. "I had demanded a new pipeline in Bhagirathpura. On my demand, an official file was created on November 12, 2024, but it was held back for seven months," he revealed in his letter.
The corporator further explained that a tender was finally floated on July 30, 2025, after he personally approached Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava. "But the tendering process was not completed in the stipulated time," Waghela alleged, demanding strict action against the responsible officials.
The Scale of the Problem and Immediate Fallout
Highlighting the extent of the issue, the Ward 11 corporator mentioned that a staggering 40% of the pipelines in his ward are old and dilapidated. He estimated that an investment of approximately Rs 2.3 crore is required to replace them comprehensively.
The political and administrative fallout was swift. On Friday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav removed the IMC commissioner and suspended an additional commissioner. In the wake of these high-level actions, officials at the civic body did not respond to the specific allegations made by Corporator Kamal Waghela.
This incident underscores a fatal gap between early warnings and administrative action, resulting in a preventable public health disaster that has left the city of Indore in mourning.
