BHOPAL: Struck by the killer diarrhoeal outbreak, the Bhagirathpura locality of Indore, India’s cleanest city, turned on Saturday into a battleground between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress. When a fact-finding team of the opposition party went to the affected locality, their passage was blocked by BJP workers, triggering slogan shouting by both sides.
Back in Bhopal, Congress workers protested outside the residence of Indore-1 MLA and state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya over his alleged misbehaviour with a journalist. State Congress president Jitu Patwari, who hails from Indore, demanded resignation of Vijayvargiya and lodging of an FIR against the Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava over diarrhoeal deaths, ranging from 10 to 16.
“The loss of innocent lives in Indore due to contaminated water supply has happened due to a systemic failure. Mere removal of the Indore municipal commissioner Dilip Yadav and suspension of additional commissioner Rohit Sisonia and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) superintending engineer Sanjeev Shrivastava isn’t enough. The onus of the systemic failure also lies on local MLA and urban administration and housing minister Kailash Vijayvargiya as well as mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava,” Patwari said.
Leader of opposition Umang Singhar, meanwhile, quoted the contents of a 2019 CAG Report, which had raised concerns about contaminated water being supplied in Indore between 2013 and 2018.
“The report highlighted serious deficiencies and exposed corruption in both cities. The project work was found to be inadequate. No action was taken even after the report was released in 2019. The CAG report raised questions about water management in Bhopal and Indore,” Singhar said.
“Out of 9.41 lakh households in Indore and Bhopal, only 5.30 lakh had then received tap connections. Also, the CAG report highlighted that the municipal corporation took 22 to 182 days to address complaints about leaks. Between 2013 and 2018, 4,481 water samples (physical, chemical, and bacteriological tests) were found to be unfit for drinking. The records did not show what action the municipal corporation took,” he said.