Around 25 residents of Mhow tehsil in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district fell ill after allegedly consuming contaminated drinking water, officials said on Friday.
Mhow Block Medical Officer Dr Yogesh Singare said medical examinations have confirmed cases of typhoid, liver-related infection and jaundice in four patients, while others with less severe symptoms are being treated at their residences.
He said health teams are carrying out door-to-door visits to identify additional cases and to inform residents about precautionary measures.
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Health officials said the admitted patients include Adarsh (5), Krishu (4) and Yatharth (10), all from the Moti Mahal area, who are undergoing treatment at the Red Cross Hospital. Another patient, Jagdish Chauhan (62), has been shifted to Indore for specialised care after being diagnosed with a liver infection.
Residents of the locality alleged that the illnesses surfaced after people, especially children, consumed turbid, foul-smelling water that had been supplied in the area over the last two weeks.
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{{/usCountry}}Sub-divisional magistrate Rakesh Parmar inspected the affected neighbourhoods and confirmed that water samples have been collected for laboratory analysis. He said a formal probe has been initiated and residents have been advised to drink only boiled water, adding that the situation is currently under control.
Separately, the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi has taken suo motu notice of reports pointing to sewage mixing with drinking water in parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, describing it as a serious environmental and public health issue.
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Indore water contamination deaths
The incident follows a similar outbreak reported last month in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area, where several people fell ill and 15 deaths were linked to contaminated water.
A death analysis study commissioned by the state government linked 15 of the 21 deaths in Bhagirathpura area to consumption of sewage-contaminated water, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. The government had insisted 10 deaths were linked to contaminated water.
Indore divisional commissioner Sudam Khade said earlier this month 15 were linked to “diarrhea and related symptoms caused by contaminated water.” He said the autopsy reports in two cases were awaited and the remaining four deaths were due to reasons such as kidney failure and cardiac arrest.
The analysis, conducted by doctors at the city’s Mahatma Gandhi Medical College (MGM), Indore, was submitted to the state government on Tuesday. “Their mandate was to find how many have died because of drinking contaminated drinking water,” an earlier HT report quoted a senior health official aware of the development.
The government has given ex-gratia assistance of ₹2 lakh to the next-of-kin of 18 persons, insisting that this was done on a humanitarian basis. The district authorities had, however, insisted that only 10 deaths were linked to contaminated water.