INDORE: Coming down heavily on the Madhya Pradesh government over deaths caused by contaminated water in Indore, the High Court on Tuesday said the incident had hurt the city’s reputation as India’s cleanest city and made it infamous for supplying poisonous water.
A division bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi was hearing petitions related to deaths and illness in some localities. The bench directed the state chief secretary to address the court through video conferencing on January 15.
The court said, “The issue of water is not limited to Indore alone. It is a problem of the entire state.” It asked the chief secretary to explain the steps being taken at the state level to prevent water contamination and similar cases elsewhere.
The court also directed the state and Indore authorities to place on record the files related to tenders issued for laying fresh drinking water pipelines, as well as the MP Pollution Control Board report on samples tested in 2017 and 2018.
Senior advocate Ajay Bagadia, appearing for a petitioner, told the court that the Indore Municipal Corporation’s Mayor-in-Council had approved a new pipeline for the Bhagirathpura area in 2022, but the work was not carried out due to the non-release of funds.
Bagadia said that in 2017-18, 60 water samples were collected from different parts of the city, and 59 were found unfit for drinking. Despite this, no corrective action was taken. He argued that responsible officers were liable both civilly and criminally.
The court observed that access to clean drinking water is part of the Right to Life under Article 21 and “cannot be compromised.” It warned that liability would be fixed if officials were found guilty.
For immediate relief, the court ordered the supply of safe water through tankers at government cost including city-wide measures.