Indore Water Contamination Deaths: 20 Fresh Cases of Diarrhoea Reported, Congress Demands Judicial Probe

Indore municipal corporation officials have said they have still not been able to definitively find the source of contamination in the water, which resulted in more than 1,000 people falling ill in Bhagirathpura.

The Wire Staff

indore water contamination deaths 20 fresh cases of diarrhoea reported congress demands judicial probe

Family members of a victim, who died after consumption of allegedly contaminated water, mourn in Bhagirathpura area of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Even as local authorities have been trying to find out sources of water contamination in Indore where 10 people have died after drinking contaminated water, 20 fresh cases of diarrhoea were reported during the screening process of 9,000 people in Bhagirathpura, which is the epicentre of the crisis.

According to the Press Trust of India, at present 142 persons are hospitalised with 11 in intensive-care units (ICUs). Officials said on Sunday (January 4) that 9,416 individuals from 2,354 households were examined and 20 fresh cases were identified.

Chief medical and health officer Dr Madhav Prasad Haasani said that a team from the Kolkata-based National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (NIRBI) has reached in Indore to investigate the health crisis and experts from the team are providing technical support to the health department to contain the outbreak.

However, Indore municipal corporation officials have said they have still not been able to definitively find the source of contamination in the water, which resulted in more than 1,000 people falling ill in Bhagirathpura, reported Indian Express.

At present the administration is focusing on borewells that have been connected illegally to the water pipelines and nearly 60 such connections have been removed by authorities.

The Indian Express report added that in many of the cases, families saw loved ones die in front of them after severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea. Many of these patients died before they could be taken to hospitals.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Madhya Pradesh has been slammed by the opposition Congress for the incident. State urban development minister and Indore-1 MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya has also been under fire for misbehaving with a reporter.

On Sunday, the Congress demanded that a judicial inquiry is conducted into the water contamination incident and also threatened to launch a protest on January 11 if the party's demands for rectification measures were not met, reported Press Trust of India.

State Congress chief Jitu Patwari said that Vijayvargiya must be sacked as state urban development and housing minister because Bhagirathpura is part of the latter's Indore-1 assembly constituency.

Investigations till now have revealed a failure in civic infrastructure.

This article went live on January fifth, two thousand twenty six, at forty-nine minutes past twelve at noon.

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