INDORE: Coming down heavily on the state government over the deaths of residents due to contaminated water supply in India’s cleanest city Indore, the Madhya Pradesh High Court observed on Tuesday that the incident "severely damaged Indore’s image of being the country’s cleanest city and made it infamous for supplying poisonous water to its residents."
Hearing a bunch of petitions, the division bench of the High Court in Indore, comprising Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi, directed the state’s chief secretary to address the Court through video conferencing on the entire issue on the next date of hearing, January 15.
"The issue of water isn’t only Indore’s problem, but it’s the problem of the entire state, therefore, the state’s chief secretary is directed to address this Court through Video Conferencing on the issues which have been mentioned in the order on the next date of hearing. The CS will apprise this Court that what actions at the State level are being taken for preventing the water contamination in the entire State so as to prevent the similar incident in other places," the HC mentioned in its five-page order on Tuesday.
The HC also directed the state government and authorities in Indore to produce relevant files relating to the issuance of the tender for a fresh pipeline for drinking water, and also the report of the MP Pollution Control Board in respect to the samples which were tested in 2017-2018.
Importantly, during the hearing of the petitions, senior advocate Ajay Bagadia, who is the counsel for one of the petitioners, had submitted before the HC that the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) Mayor-in-Council had passed the order long back in 2022 for laying the new pipeline for supply of drinking water in Bhagirathpura area, but because of the non- disbursement of the funds by erring officers of the Corporation, the said work could not be carried out.
Bagadia had also argued that in 2017-2018, 60 water samples were taken from various places of Indore town, out of which 59 were found to be non-potable. He submitted that despite the said report of the MP Pollution Control Board, no action was taken for the prevention of rectificatory.
He argued that the erring officers are responsible not only for civil liabilities but also for criminal liabilities.
While hearing the petitions, the HC observed that access to clean drinking water is part of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution and cannot be compromised "under any circumstances." The bench cautioned that if required, civil and criminal liability would be fixed on the guilty officials, and that the court would intervene if compensation to victims was found to be inadequate.
Further, for immediate and emergency directions, the HC directed the authorities to ensure immediate supply of safe drinking water through tankers/packaged water at government cost to the affected areas, stopping the use of contaminated sources (specific pipelines, overhead tanks, bore wells, rivers), holding health camps and medical screening for affected residents and providing free treatment in government and empanelled private hospitals.
The HC also directed the authorities to conduct water quality testing at multiple points by the NABL Accredited Laboratories, replacing/repairing pipelines (especially where sewer lines and water lines run parallel), installing online water quality monitoring systems and ensuring chlorination and disinfection protocols.
Also, the Court directed for a long-term water safety plan for Indore city.
