After 25 Deaths In Indore, 24 Fall Ill in Mhow After Drinking Toxic Water

Over two dozen people, including children, have been diagnosed with jaundice after drinking contaminated water in the Mhow area of Madhya Pradesh's Indore district. Cases began to be reported from the Patti Bazaar and Chander Marg areas on Thursday night, health officials said.

Locals pointed to muddy and foul-smelling water and said people, including school-going children, ill after drinking it, forcing them to miss classes and, in some cases, even important exams. Alena, a Class 12 student, for example, missed her pre-board exams as she was ill while 12-year-old Geetansh and nine-year-old Lakshita are both battling jaundice.

The situation is even more alarming in the Moti Mahal area.

Indore Collector Shivam Verma reached Mhow late last night and visited some patients being treated at a hospital. He also spoke to residents of the affected areas, an official said.

Many of those residents pointed out they had complained, several times, about contaminated water – in some cases the pipes ran through sewage pits or drains – but no action was taken.

Now forced to act, health officials reached Mhow this morning on orders from the Chief Medical and Health Officer, Dr Madhav Hasani, and a medical team from Indore is also en route. The area MLA, Usha Thakur from the Bharatiya Janata Party, also visited those who had fallen ill.

For now no deaths have been reported from the Mhow outbreak.

But 25 people have died in Indore city, which is about 60km away, as a result of the contaminated water supply. The most recent death was Tuesday - Hemany Gaikwad, a 51-year-old resident of the Bhagirathpura neighbourhood.

Gaikwad fell ill December 22 after consuming contaminated water. Doctors said he suffered from cell carcinoma and kidney disease, but was admitted with vomiting and diarrhoea.

On Tuesday the Madhya Pradesh government told the state High Court that bacterial contamination of drinking water led to widespread infection in the Bhagirathpura area.

Chief Secretary Anurag Jain told an Indore bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi that contaminated water was found in 51 tube wells in Bhagirathpura and a test report revealed the presence of E. coli bacteria.

According to health experts, E coli is commonly found in water through sewage or faeces, and drinking water infected by this bacteria causes vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain, and fever.

The court demanded to know how the drinking water had become contaminated, to which the government said a leak in one pipe had allowed drinking water and sewage to mix.