Are we waiting for more Bhagirathpura-like tragedy in Indore?
Many localities, like Prajapat Nagar, are facing the problem of contaminated water, but authorities have barely acted on complaints
Indore, Jan 5: Last year, between December 28–29, in an area called Bagirathpura in Indore, sewage water contaminated the drinking water supply, killing about 10 people. By January 2, a large number of adult patients, along with 21 children, were admitted to MY Hospital and Chacha Nehru Hospital. So far, 16 people have lost their lives.
The administration and system are now acting rapidly — distributing water through tankers, repairing drainage lines, removing garbage and transferring officials. Does this issue not exist in other parts of the city? Will focusing on just one locality solve the problem when several other areas of the city are steadily moving towards becoming the next Bagirathpura?
In the western part of the city lies Prajapat Nagar, which falls under Ward No. 85. Almost every house here has a private or government borewell connection. There is also a Narmada water pipeline, but no water flows through it. Water is being drawn from 300-350 feet, and in most places, the borewell water has an extremely foul smell, dark colour and foam. The stench spreads far and wide. Drainage chambers are located adjacent to the borewell pipelines.
Residents have complained to the local councillor over the phone and have also submitted written applications. However, in the name of action, only municipal workers arrive, clean the chambers, dump the filth on the road and leave. What is actually needed is improvement of the drainage line and ensuring that it is kept separate and at a safe distance from the drinking water pipeline.
At present, the wastewater accumulated in the chambers is mixing with the borewell water.
Several complaints have also been registered on the CM Helpline, including one with the reference number 35194370. About two months ago, new RCC roads were constructed here, but those responsible did not consider the residents’ main problems at all. Instead, they built the roads so high above house levels that even a light rain or overflow of drainage filth causes water and sewage to enter houses.
According to residents who have lived here for 20-30 years—Sunil Rajoure, Rohit Sunhare, Sunita Mane, Sandhya Shivnani, Nilesh Shivnani, Ashish Chourasia, Vishal Saini, Suresh Sunhare, Himanshu Sunhare, Varsha Waghmare, Rohit Mishra, Shivalata Mishra, Arun Mishra, Manoj Kushwaha, Bhavana Jagmani, Vishnu Hemanani, Jayprakash Prajapati, Basant Khatri, Mamta Rajoure, Mahipal Verma, among others—the Narmada pipeline connections were laid here nearly 10 years ago, but water has still not started flowing. Despite this, many people regularly pay water tax. The reason is simple, if they stop paying and later recovery begins, where will they arrange a lump sum amount from?
Those using government borewells have to pay Rs 100 per house per month. During the rainy season, the area becomes almost unlivable. But after building their homes with years of hard work, where are people supposed to go?
Prajapat Nagar is not the only place facing this problem. In many other parts of the city, this situation is common. The administration has laid a network of RCC roads — from main roads to internal colony lanes — but did not pay attention to far more critical issues lying beneath them: drainage systems, drinking water pipelines, groundwater levels, and water quality.
Complaints keep pouring in, but superficial cleaning is done just to manage the situation for the nonce. Are we waiting for Bagirathpura-like tragedies to happen everywhere before taking real action?
