INDORE: Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, Umang Singhar, on Wednesday claimed that he carried out a water audit in many parts of Indore and found the water to be "highly contaminated and undrinkable."
The Congress leader's claims come amid a diarrhoea outbreak, caused by contaminated water, in the city's Bhagirathpura area, where at least six persons have died, and hundreds have had to be hospitalised.
"After taking water samples and conducting on-the-spot testing, it was found that in almost all areas, the water is highly contaminated and undrinkable," Singhar said in a statement.
Claiming that 20 persons have died in Bhagirathpura, Singhar said the tragedy is not confined to that particular locality.
All of Indore is forced to drink dirty and sewage-contaminated water, he said.
According to the statement, Singhar visited many areas, including Madina Nagar, Khajrana, Bhuri Tekri and Indore 2 assembly constituency, to test the water and found the conditions to be "extremely poor."
The situation in Madina Nagar, a Muslim-dominated area, was found to be extremely worrying, he said.
Despite getting hefty water bills, the residents are being supplied with dirty water, claimed Singhar.
The water pipeline running near a gutter in Indore 2 assembly constituency proves gross negligence by the BJP government and the civic corporation, he said.
"This situation in an area (Indore 2) where senior BJP leader and the current Urban Administration Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has served as an MLA several times is extremely shameful. Why are the people of the state being fed sewage-contaminated water?" he asked.
Raising questions, Singhar asked, "Will the government wake up even after 20 deaths? Will the accountability of the minister, mayor, municipal corporation and administration be fixed? For how long will the people of Indore be forced to drink poisonous water?"
He warned that the Congress would launch a mass movement if the government did not take immediate, concrete steps.
Meanwhile, MP Congress media in-charge Mukesh Nayak told reporters in Bhopal that party workers will hold a foot march on January 11 from Indore's Bada Ganpati Temple to the Ahilyabai statue site at Rajwada.
Former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh, state Congress head Jitu Patwari, and several senior party leaders will participate in the march, he said.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also been invited, said Nayak, adding that the media would be informed as soon as a confirmation is received from Gandhi's office.
Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said on January 2 that he had received information about the death of 10 patients in a diarrhoea outbreak linked to contaminated water.
Locals, however, have claimed 17 people, including a six-month-old child, have died in the outbreak.