The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday finally moved against senior civic and engineering officials in Indore, transferring the municipal commissioner and suspending two top officers after at least 10 deaths were linked to contaminated drinking water in the city’s Bhagirathpura area. The action came amid mounting public outrage, contradictory official statements on the death toll, and sharp scrutiny from the Madhya Pradesh high court, which has taken up the matter following a public interest litigation.

Chief minister Mohan Yadav ordered the suspension of Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) additional commissioner Rohit Sisonia and Public Health Engineering (PHE) department in-charge superintending engineer Sanjeev Srivastava. He also directed the removal and transfer of Indore municipal commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav, just hours after show-cause notices were issued to them. The move marked the first major administrative crackdown in a crisis that residents say had been brewing for months.

“The state government will not tolerate negligence in the incident caused by contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura, Indore. Strict action is being taken in this regard,” Yadav said in a post on X, announcing the suspensions and transfer. He added that accountability would be fixed and that similar lapses would not be allowed anywhere else in the state.

The action followed a grim escalation of the crisis, with the death toll rising to 10 according to Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava. The outbreak of diarrhoeal illness, allegedly caused by sewage mixing with drinking water, has exposed deep flaws in civic administration, water supply infrastructure, and the response of authorities to repeated complaints from residents.

The crisis became widely known on December 29, a day after a resident of Bhagirathpura died after complaining of vomiting and diarrhoea. Subsequent investigations by officials confirmed that sewage had mixed with the drinking water supply, reportedly after a toilet was constructed without adequate safety checks near an old pipeline.

Mayor Bhargava acknowledged serious lapses in infrastructure and follow-up. “The pipeline was 30 years old. The locals were complaining of problems in water supply and the tender was opened in July but no action was taken. No safety tank was constructed for the toilet,” he said, indicating that the administration had failed to act despite being aware of the risks.

Residents, however, allege that warnings were ignored for far longer. According to locals, complaints about foul-smelling water and possible sewage contamination were raised as early as July. A formal complaint was also filed on the mayor’s portal, but residents say nothing changed on the ground.

Prakash Kumar, a shopkeeper in Bhagirathpura, said the problem had become routine. “Foul smell in water was a common problem. In July, the mayor had come to our area and assured of laying a new pipeline. But the quality of water deteriorated in December. However, no action was taken till December 29,” he said.

For many families, the delay proved fatal. Raju Dhruvkar, a resident who lost his wife Geeta on Thursday, recounted the ordeal. “We were receiving contaminated water for a long time but on December 23, the quality of water deteriorated. My wife fell ill immediately after consuming it. She was vomiting continuously. We admitted her to the hospital on December 24. She was on ventilator since Wednesday and died on Thursday,” he said. Dhruvkar has demanded registration of a first information report (FIR) against the officials responsible.

Even as grief and anger spread, officials continued to issue conflicting figures on the number of deaths, adding to confusion and mistrust. Mayor Bhargava said 10 people had died due to contaminated water. In contrast, Indore district collector Shivam Verma claimed there were five deaths, while a status report submitted by the state government to the high court confirmed only four deaths linked to the contamination.

Bhargava defended his statement, saying the administration was undercounting fatalities. “Ten people died while undergoing treatment for diarrhoea at different hospitals. The administration is claiming only those deaths which are confirmed by the health department on the basis of post-mortem report,” he said.

The Madhya Pradesh high court took up the matter on Friday, expressing serious concern over the situation. A division bench of justices Dwarkadish Bansal and Rajendra Kumar Vani instructed the state government to ensure that Indore receives clean drinking water and that the best possible treatment is provided to those affected.

“This is big news. If people are dying because of contaminated water, then something is wrong. Keep upholding the beauty of Indore. Indore is such a respected city, and the country says good things about the city,” the bench observed while reviewing the state government’s 39-page status report.

According to the report, the government came to know about water contamination only on December 29, a day after a 60-year-old woman died. The document also stated that around 300 patients reported illness between December 25 and December 27. However, it said no cases were recorded on December 28, a Sunday, because the Mukhyamantri Sanjeevani Clinic and the primary health centre were closed, a detail that has drawn criticism.

The report further claimed that between December 29 and January 1, authorities conducted a door-to-door survey of 48,112 people. Of these, 2,714 were found to have mild symptoms, while 294 were admitted to hospitals. Thirty-two patients were reportedly in intensive care units.

Petitioner and advocate Ritesh Inani, who approached the high court, said the status report was inadequate and appeared to have been prepared in haste. “There is no mention of the cause of death and water contamination,” he said, arguing that the most critical questions remain unanswered. The court is scheduled to hear the case again on January 6.

The chief minister’s action against the officials was based on a report submitted by additional chief secretary for urban administration Sanjay Dubey. According to a senior officer familiar with the findings, the report noted that tenders for laying new drinking water pipelines were floated in July, but the process was not completed by municipal officers, despite persistent complaints from residents.

Yadav said the government would not limit corrective action to Indore alone. “In connection with the tragic incident caused by the contaminated drinking water in Indore and after taking strict action against the responsible officials, we are now taking corrective measures for other parts of the state as well,” he said. He announced a virtual meeting with mayors, chairpersons and commissioners of all 16 municipal corporations, district collectors, and senior officials from the health, urban development and public health engineering departments to review systems and prevent similar incidents.

The Opposition seized on the incident to attack the BJP-led government. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted on X, “In Indore, instead of water, poison was distributed, and the administration remained in a deep slumber. There is mourning in every home, the poor are helpless. Those whose homes are filled with grief needed solace; the government offered arrogance instead.”

The BJP, however, urged restraint. Party spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said, “Politics should not be done on the matter. It happened due to negligence of PHE field officials. Serious action is being taken.”

As Indore grapples with the fallout of the tragedy, questions remain over accountability, transparency, and systemic failures in urban governance. For residents of Bhagirathpura, the suspensions and transfer offer little immediate comfort. What they seek, they say, is clean water, justice for the dead, and assurance that warnings raised months ago will not be ignored again—until it is too late.