Hundreds hospitalised in Indore after public toilet built above water pipeline appears to have let sewage into supply
Sewage-contaminated drinking water is being blamed for killing at least 10 people, including a baby boy, and sending more than 270 others to hospital in Indore, ranked India’s “cleanest city” for the last eight years.
Residents of a congested, lower-income neighbourhood in Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital, had been warning authorities for months about foul-smelling tap water. Their complaints went unheeded, despite the city’s much-lauded ranking for waste segregation and other cleanliness measures.
“I have received information about 10 deaths due to a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area,” said Indore’s mayor, Pushyamitra Bhargava. Sewage was mixing “in the main line leading from the water tank”, he added.
Local media reported that the death toll had climbed to 15, but there was no official confirmation. At least 32 patients remain in intensive care units. Beyond those hospitalised, the state’s chief minister, Mohan Yadav, said health teams conducting door-to-door visits identified 2,456 “suspected patients”, who were given first aid “on the spot”.
