Congress claims criminal negligence on part of M.P. govt over Indore water contamination deaths

The Congress on Wednesday demanded that the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government clarify whether the recent deaths in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, allegedly caused by the consumption of contaminated drinking water, were due to cholera.

The party termed the incident a result of criminal negligence and a collective failure of the “triple-engine” governments, at the Centre, in the State and at the Indore Municipal Corporation.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress spokesperson and chairman of the Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said the tragedy had exposed the “ugly, brutal and utterly callous face of the BJP government”.

He alleged 18 people, including a six-month-old infant, had lost their lives, while more than 40,000 residents were affected, with several still battling for survival in intensive care units.

Officially, though, the State government had put the number of deaths at four.

Mr. Khera pointed out the irony that the incident occurred in Indore, which has been ranked the country’s cleanest city for eight consecutive years under the Centre’s Swachh Survekshan survey.

Systemic failure

The party spokesperson said the deaths laid bare decades of systemic failure, despite flagship schemes such as the Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that promised clean drinking water and improved sanitation.

Recalling past interventions, Mr. Khera said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had extended loans of $200 million in 2003 and $71 million in 2008 to Madhya Pradesh for the Urban Water Supply and Environment Improvement Project, covering cities including Indore.

The project aimed to upgrade pumping stations, lay sewage networks, install water-metering systems and build treatment plants to improve water supply and sanitation.

However, he alleged that successive BJP governments had failed to fulfil these commitments.

According to Mr. Khera, mandatory quarterly water quality tests were not conducted, monitoring reports were not prepared or submitted, and key infrastructure projects remained incomplete or poorly managed. This failure, he said, led to the supply of contaminated water and avoidable loss of lives, amounting not just to administrative lapse but criminal betrayal of citizens and violation of international loan conditions.

Calling the incident part of a disturbing pattern, he cited previous cases of deaths linked to contaminated cough syrup and unhygienic conditions in government hospitals.

Mr. Khera demanded an immediate probe by the Prime Minister’s Office, escalation of the issue to the Asian Development Bank, and an independent Supreme Court-monitored inquiry to fix accountability.