Water Served At Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's Event Fails Safety Checks

Months after contaminated water in Indore's Bhagirathpura claimed several lives and exposed the deadly consequences of unsafe drinking water, another shocking case has surfaced in Madhya Pradesh, this time linked to a programme of Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav.

NDTV is in possession of a state research laboratory report, a letter written by the superintendent of police, security, and chief security officer attached to the chief minister's security establishment, and a show-cause notice issued by the Ujjain Divisional Commissioner. Together, the documents point to lapses at several levels.

Water arranged for the VVIP programme was found substandard, accountability appears limited to paperwork, and, according to water-quality experts, even the laboratory testing did not cover several crucial parameters that should have been examined after a tragedy like Bhagirathpura.

The water was arranged during the chief minister's visit to Semliya Ashram in the Shajapur district on April 30. According to the letter written by the SP, security, and chief security officer, the district administration had kept drinking water and food items for use during the programme. During consumption, suspicion arose that the material was substandard. The medical officer from the chief minister's residence then sent the food items and water for testing through the food safety officer, Bhopal.

The lab report later confirmed that the water sample had high turbidity. The reading was 36.8 NTU. The desirable limit for drinking water is 1 NTU. The permissible limit is 5 NTU. In simple terms, the turbidity level was nearly 37 times the desirable limit and more than seven times the permissible limit.

The first key lapse during the chief minister's programme was the supply of water that did not meet safety standards.

The second lapse lies in the VVIP protocol itself. The Chief Minister has Z-plus security cover. High-ranking sources told NDTV that in such cases, strict standard operating procedures are followed and experts are appointed for every aspect of the visit. The Chief Minister's security team has overall responsibility for ensuring SOP compliance, including food certification, the presence of food officers and baggage handlers, anti-sabotage drills, mechanical checks, and the inspection of food and beverages before they are served.

The third lapse emerges from the action taken after the report. On May 18, Ujjain Divisional Commissioner Ashish Singh issued a show-cause notice to Shajapur District Excise Officer Vinay Rangshahi. The notice says the officer was responsible for VIP food arrangements, room arrangements, helipad arrangements and compliance with instructions during the chief minister's April 30 visit.

The notice clearly states that the drinking water made available by him was found to be "qualityless and not drinkable". It further says the State Research Laboratory, Bhopal, found high turbidity in the water sample. The Commissioner called it serious negligence and irresponsibility towards VIP duty and asked why disciplinary action should not be proposed.

But despite the serious language of the notice, no major action has been taken so far, except the officer's transfer from Shajapur to Khandwa as district excise officer. The Excise Department maintains that the transfer was routine.

The fourth and perhaps most alarming failure has now been flagged by scientist and environmentalist Dr Subhash C. Pandey, who specialises in water quality. According to Dr Pandey, even the testing was incomplete.

"The laboratory failed to test several important parameters. Dissolved oxygen was not tested, heavy metals were not tested, bacteriological parameters were not tested, and pesticide parameters were not included. The very parameters that should have been checked were omitted," Dr Pandey told NDTV.

His observation makes the case even more serious. The lab report exposed high turbidity, but it did not answer the larger question: what else was present in the water?

Dr Pandey said bacteriological testing was especially important because Madhya Pradesh had recently witnessed the Bhagirathpura tragedy in Indore, where contaminated water allegedly led to deaths and hospitalisations.

"In Bhagirathpura, the major concern was bacteriological contamination. Here too, despite clear indicators, bacteriological parameters were ignored. But even one parameter, turbidity, has exposed the entire situation. The turbidity level was 36.8 NTU. Against a standard of 1, this shows severe contamination," Dr Pandey said.

He said high turbidity is not merely about dirty-looking water. It is a warning sign that the treatment system may have failed. "This means the water-treatment process is ineffective. The practices meant to purify the water have either completely failed or are not being followed. This is a very serious matter," he said.

Dr Pandey also warned that highly turbid water can hide dangerous pathogens. "Such severe contamination carries a high risk of hidden pathogens: bacteria, viruses and parasites. This creates a significant likelihood of gastrointestinal illness," he said.

The issue is therefore no longer limited to one bad sample. The documents and the expert assessment together suggest lapses at multiple levels: arrangement, inspection, protocol, accountability and even testing.

Madhya Pradesh had only recently seen the horror of Bhagirathpura, where contaminated water allegedly caused deaths and large-scale illness. After that tragedy, the government had promised action and tighter checks. But weeks later, water arranged for the chief minister's own programme failed a basic safety parameter. If Bhagirathpura exposed the danger faced by ordinary citizens, the Shajapur episode shows that even the VVIP system was not immune to contaminated water and administrative negligence.