The tragic death of several people due to contamination of drinking water in Indore is a "system-created disaster" with corruption allegedly being at the root of the tragedy, said renowned water conservationist Rajendra Singh on Sunday.
Singh, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and widely hailed as the 'waterman of India', expressed concern over the condition of other regions if such an incident could happen in Indore, which is believed to be the cleanest city in India.
"Indore's contaminated drinking water crisis is a system-created disaster. To save money, contractors lay drinking water pipelines close to drainage lines. Corruption has ruined the entire system. The Indore tragedy is the result of this corrupt system," Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.
At least fourteen people, including a six-month-old child, have reportedly died due to the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water in Indore's Bhagirathpura. Officials have given contradicting numbers regarding the death toll, with the Mayor confirming ten deaths while the health department pegging it at six.
According to officials, the contamination was caused by a leakage found in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a police outpost in the Bhagirthpura area, at a spot over which a toilet has been constructed.
Indore, known as the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, depends on the Narmada river for its water needs.
Through pipelines laid by the municipal corporation, water from the Narmada is brought to Indore from Jalud in neighbouring Khargone district, located 80 km away, and supplied to households.
Recounting his visit to Indore in 1992, Singh said that he has been raising concerns regarding the city's dependency on the river for drinking water.
"The year-on-year decline in groundwater levels in Indore is the most worrying. I visited Indore for the first time in 1992. Even then, I had asked how long the city would depend on water from the Narmada river?" Singh said.
If the city has continued to rely on the Narmada water even after so many years, it means that people in the government system did not want to create a responsible water management mechanism, he claimed.
A large amount of money is lost to corruption in the project to bring Narmada water to Indore from 80 kilometres away, he alleged.
According to civic officials, around Rs 25 crore is spent every month from the municipal corporation's treasury only on electricity bills for this project.
The huge expenditure involved in the project can also be gauged from statements made by Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava.
During a seminar in the city on June 27, 2024, Bhargava had said, "Ever since I became mayor, I have been joking that Indore is one of the richest cities in Asia because we drink water that costs Rs 21 per kilolitre and also let it flow wastefully. We are not drinking water, but ghee."
(With inputs from PTI)
