After deaths linked to contaminated water in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area, a similar case has now emerged in Mhow, located about 24 km away. Speaking to Ground Report, Indore’s Public Relations Officer, Mahipal, said that a total of 22 people have fallen ill due to consumption of contaminated water, of whom nine are currently hospitalised.
Indore Collector Shivam Verma said that 17 of the 22 affected are children.
The matter came to public attention on Thursday, January 22. On the same day, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Usha Thakur met the affected families. As per the information from the Indore Collector’s Office, a health department team was dispatched from Indore on Thursday evening, and health camps are currently being organized for medical examinations.
Meanwhile, 50 water samples have been collected from Narmada pipelines and government and private borewells in the Chandan Nagar and Patti Bazaar areas.
On Friday, January 23, the Collector again visited the affected localities. He said that symptoms of jaundice and similar illnesses have been observed among residents. He added that 12 survey teams are conducting surveys in 200–250 households, and all patients are being treated at the Mhow hospital.
Complaints Began on January 6
Aditya Mithora, the 17-year-old son of Madhuri Mithora, developed a high fever on January 6. Acting on medical advice, Madhuri first administered injections, but when his condition did not improve, tests for jaundice and other illnesses were done. On January 8, Aditya was diagnosed with jaundice.
Madhuri says that since January 8, eight bottles of glucose have been administered to him. After Aditya, his younger sister Harshita Mithora (14) was also diagnosed with jaundice. According to Madhuri, six children in their joint family, all under the age of 20, have contracted jaundice. All are currently being treated at home.
Similarly, Umer Salmani, a 12-year-old student studying in Class 6, complained of severe head and chest pain while at school on January 18. His father, Naushad Salmani, said that medical reports on January 19 confirmed that Umer had jaundice. In addition, infections were found in his liver and body. Umer is also being treated at home.
On January 22, Collector Shivam Verma visited Umer’s home and advised the family to boil and filter water before drinking.
Drinking Water Situation
Like most households in Mhow, both Madhuri’s and Naushad’s homes receive water from the Narmada pipeline. Madhuri complains that even before January 6, the water supply was dirty and foul-smelling. She says,
“Water comes every morning at 6 a.m. Initially, it is clean, but soon it becomes muddy.”
Naushad also complains about irregular access to clean water and said that contaminated water came to his house two days ago as well. Locals usually use alum (fitkari) to purify dirty water. However, following doctors’ advice, both families are now using water-purifying medicines and boiling water before consumption.
“There is no problem with the water from the Narmada. The issue arises with private pipelines connected to the main pipeline—people route them through drains to avoid paying cutting charges.” Local journalist Arun Solanki, who lives on Chandan Road, says.
Explaining this further, Manish Agrawal, Health Superintendent of the Cantonment Board, said that the Board provides water pipelines up to the front of houses. From there, residents must lay private pipelines to their homes, which requires digging through government land. For this, a fee must be paid to the Cantonment Board, called “cutting charges.”
Solanki himself uses Narmada water. He says, “If the infection were from Narmada water, my family and I would also have fallen ill. These cases are only in houses where pipelines pass through drains.” Madhuri, however, says that while their pipeline runs alongside a drain, it does not pass through it.
Water Supply System
Mhow is a cantonment area, where civic amenities are provided by the Mhow Cantonment Board (MCB). On January 7, the Board published a public notice in newspapers asking residents whose drinking water pipelines pass through drains to either rectify the issue themselves or deposit the required fee with the Board to reroute the pipelines. The notice stated that failure to comply within 30 days would result in the disconnection of the water supply.
Officials of the Cantonment Board are now informally citing this issue as the cause of the infections.
The Board receives bulk water supply from the Indore Municipal Corporation, which is then distributed using motor pumps. The Board has 7.5 lakh gallons of water available daily. This includes municipal supply as well as 91 deep tubewells, 25 open wells with motor pumps, 66 deep tubewells with hand pumps for drinking water, and five overhead tanks and two pump houses for water-scarce areas. Additionally, 11 million litres per day (MLD) of water is supplied to Mhow through the Narmada pipeline.
Speaking to Ground Report, Health Superintendent Manish Agrawal said, “All inlets of the Narmada supply—from where the supply starts to where it is distributed—are being thoroughly inspected.” He added that water samples have been taken from three borewells operated by the Board, as well as from private borewells.
At present, water samples from the Narmada pipeline are being collected in the Patti Bazaar and Moti Mahal areas. Agrawal said that water supply has not been stopped and that the situation is under control. He added that once test results are available, authorities will decide whether to halt the Narmada supply and initiate water tanker. Meanwhile, Collector Verma said that water tankers will be deployed only in the affected areas.
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