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Court orders police to probe Indore deaths, submit report by Jan 24
Indore court orders police to investigate 10 deaths from contaminated water, prompting a statewide clean water campaign to prevent future incidents.
Bhopal:Indore district court has directed the Banganga police to investigate deaths of 10 people after they consumed contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area, following a complaint filed by a local resident seeking registration of an FIR against the errant municipal officials and the district collector for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The first class judicial magistrate has directed the Banganga police on Thursday to investigate the matter and submit a report by January 24. The complaint was filed by Ramuroop Singh, a resident of Mohta Nagar in Bhagirathpura area.
According to Singh, he had to move the court since the police did not register a case on his complaint.
In a devastating outbreak of water-borne diseases in the area, which was reported for the first time on December 29, more than 1,500 people have been infected and at least 10 have died in the working class neighbourhood. On Friday, 15 new patients were found in the area and two of them were admitted to hospital. Now, 50 people are admitted to the hospitals and 10 were in ICU.
“The complainant had been complaining about the contaminated water on the CM Helpline and Mayor Helpline for the past three years, but no one paid attention,” said advocate Dilip Nagar, who represented the petitioner.
“The current collector and then-municipal commissioner Shivam Verma, former municipal commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav, suspended additional commissioner Rohit Sisonia, and suspended executive engineer Sanjeev Srivastava should be booked under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha in connection with the contaminated water deaths Bhagirathpura,” Singh’s petition said.
On Friday, Neeraj Mandloi — additional chief secretary to chief minister — chaired a meeting of top officials to discuss the situation in Bhagirathpura. The meeting came two days before leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is slated to visit Indore to meet the affected people.
After the meeting, the ACS Mandloi informed that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will launch a statewide clean water campaign from January 10. The campaign will focus specifically on the supply of clean water. The campaign will prioritize the inspection of all water sources, prompt corrective actions, and extensive public awareness programs.
“Madhya Pradesh government will transform this disaster into an opportunity by making efforts to free the entire city from contaminated water, said Mandloi after the meeting. Considering this incident as a warning, the water supply system across the entire state will be continuously reviewed to prevent the recurrence of such situations in the future and to ensure that citizens receive safe drinking water and a safe living environment,” he added.
Facing protest by locals after the incident, the government has decided to
launch a special public trust campaign.
The ACS Mandloi confirmed that and said, “The campaign will be launched to restore the confidence of the general public. Approximately 50,000 families in the Bhagirathpura area will be divided into 20-25 zones. Existing self-help groups and new self-help groups, as needed, will be formed to ensure the participation of local women and the general public in developmental and welfare activities. One officer will be deployed for every 50-100 houses. The groups will focus on maintaining continuous contact with patients discharged from the hospital, monitoring medication, and preventing relapses.”
In the meeting it was informed that all government borewells connected to the main pipeline will be sealed to prevent any kind of contamination as water of borewell was also found contaminated in the test.
The overhead tank in the Bhagirathpura area has been found safe during testing. The meeting was informed that water supply through the overhead tank would resume from January 13.
