Lab test confirms drinking water contamination behind Indore diarrhoea outbreak

Laboratory tests have confirmed that contaminated drinking water caused the diarrhoea outbreak in Indore that has killed at least four patients and affected more than 1,400 people, officials said on Thursday.

The test results established that a hazardous drinking water supply system was in place in parts of Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital, which has been ranked India’s cleanest city for the past eight years.

Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani told reporters on Thursday that a laboratory report prepared by a city-based medical college confirmed that drinking water was contaminated due to a leakage in a pipeline in the Bhagirathpura area, from where the outbreak has been reported.

He, however, did not share the detailed findings of the test report.

Officials said a leakage was detected in the main drinking water supply pipeline near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura, at a location over which a toilet has been constructed. They said the leakage led to contamination of the water supply in the area.

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Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Dubey told PTI, “We are closely examining the entire drinking water supply pipeline in Bhagirathpura to find out if there is any leakage elsewhere.”

Dubey said that after inspection, clean water was supplied to households in Bhagirathpura through the pipeline on Thursday. However, as a precautionary measure, residents have been advised to use the water for drinking only after boiling it.

“We have also taken samples of this water and sent them for testing,” Dubey said.

Drawing lessons from the water tragedy in Bhagirathpura, the senior bureaucrat said a standard operating procedure (SOP) will be issued for the entire state to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Dubey visited Bhagirathpura to review the situation on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

A health department official said that during a survey of 1,714 households in Bhagirathpura on Thursday, a total of 8,571 people were examined. Of these, 338 people showing mild symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea were provided primary treatment at their homes.

The official said that in the eight days since the outbreak began, 272 patients have been admitted to local hospitals, of whom 71 have been discharged so far.

At present, 201 patients remain hospitalised, including 32 in intensive care units (ICUs), the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)