Indore: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked the administration to preserve the original records related to the contaminated drinking water crisis in Bhagirathpura area, including a pipeline tender and an investigation report of the State Pollution Control Board.
A bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi was on Tuesday hearing several public interest litigations over the deaths due to contaminated water in the area.
“It is directed that the Collector, Indore, and the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, shall ensure that the relevant records relating to the subject matter of the petition, including the record of the tender for laying a drinking water line in Bhagirathpura and the sample report, etc, are kept in safe custody,” the HC said in its order.
The order came after the petitioners’ lawyers expressed apprehension that the original documents might be tampered with.
The HC also directed the state government to continue to comply with its interim orders of January 6 and submit another progress report.
The court had ordered the administration to provide free medical care to those suffering from diarrhoea in Bhagirathpura, provide safe drinking water to the people, prevent the use of contaminated water sources, strengthen drinking water testing and disinfection, upgrade water supply infrastructure, and implement a long-term water security plan.
The high court will hear the PILs next on January 27. It directed Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Anurag Jain to appear online on that date as well. Jain attended Tuesday’s hearing and two previous hearings through video link.
The government lawyers told the HC that a high-level committee has been set up to inquire into the causes of contamination of drinking water, fix accountability and suggest measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
But the petitioners’ lawyers claimed that the committee was an eyewash, intended to save the higher officials responsible for the situation.
They also alleged that the state government and the Indore Municipal Corporation were not properly implementing the high court’s interim directions. The state government denied the allegation.
The HC asked the petitioners’ lawyers to suggest independent members for a proposed monitoring committee, to be headed by the District Magistrate, to ensure strict compliance of the interim directions. The lawyers asked for time.
While local residents have put the death toll due to vomiting and diarrhea caused by contaminated water since December at 25, as per the state government’s status report submitted to the HC on January 15, seven people have died so far. A death audit report of a committee of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College indicated that 15 deaths in Bhagirathapura could be linked to the issue.
According to officials, contaminated water was found in 51 tubewells in Bhagirathapura, and test reports revealed the presence of E coli bacteria.
The contamination was caused by the mixing of sewage from a toilet with piped drinking water, officials said.
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