Mother Waited Years, Got 10 Months With Grandson: Man On Indore Water Tragedy

She became a grandmother but didn't even get 10 months with her grandson. Urmila Yadav was healthy by every measure that mattered. At 70, she walked on her own, managed her household, and had no history of serious illness. Eleven months ago, after 15 years of waiting, her family finally welcomed a child. Urmila became a grandmother for the first time, a moment of joy that had been long awaited and deeply cherished. That happiness lasted less than a year.

On Friday evening, Urmila began vomiting. Diarrhoea followed soon after. By Saturday morning, her son Sanjay Yadav, a tailor, took her to the Cloth Market Hospital in Indore. Her condition deteriorated rapidly and doctors moved her to the intensive care unit. Doctors attempted treatment, but her health did not stabilise. On Sunday morning at 11 am, Urmila died.

The medical cause cited was severe infection, but her family believes the trigger was contaminated drinking water.

"My mother had no illness," Sanjay said. "She was completely healthy. Her condition worsened only after she drank that water."

The same water made Urmila's 11-month-old grandson sick as well. The child was admitted to Chacha Nehru Hospital and discharged recently, though he remains weak.

"That child came into our lives after 15 years," Sanjay said. "My mother only got eight or ten months with him."

Residents of the area say the tap water had been visibly dirty for over a week before Urmila fell ill. Drainage work was underway in some places, pipelines were exposed in others, and complaints were raised, but no corrective action followed.

"We complained," Sanjay said. "But nobody listened.

The family says they received no institutional support during treatment. "In 22 hours, I paid Rs 40,000," Sanjay said. "I borrowed that money. I have all the bills and documents. And still, I could not save my mother."

He says no government official or political leader visited the family after her death.

"Some local party workers came and offered condolences," he said. "But no officer, no minister, no senior leader came to our home."

Instead, he was asked to go and meet leaders at a nearby square. "I had just performed my mother's last rites," Sanjay said. "In our tradition, we cannot leave the house for three days after the funeral. They should have come here."

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the families of the dead would be given a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each. He directed that the entire cost of treatment of the patients would be borne by the government.

Inside the house, preparations for Urmila's prayer ceremony were underway. Incense burned softly in a corner. Nearby, her grandson's small swing hung from the ceiling.

"My mother only became a grandmother," Sanjay said. "She did not even get to spend a year with her grandson. And nobody in the system seems to have seen what this family lost."

Urmila Yadav's death is one among several linked to a diarrhoeal outbreak in Indore's Bhagirathpura locality, allegedly caused by contaminated water supply. But for her family, it is not statistics, it is a personal loss that has left a silence behind.

This is not only the story of Urmila Yadav. It is also the story of a city that prides itself on cleanliness while its residents struggle for safe water, and of families who are left to deal alone with consequences that go far beyond a medical diagnosis.