A status report submitted by the Madhya Pradesh government to the high court has revealed that official action on a contaminated water crisis in Indore was taken only after multiple deaths had already occurred, even though residents had raised alarms several days earlier. The disclosure has intensified scrutiny of the state administration’s response to what has emerged as a serious public health failure in the Bhagirathpura locality of the city.

According to the report filed on Friday, the state machinery formally took cognisance of cases of diarrhoeal illness linked to contaminated water supply on December 29. By that date, residents had been complaining for at least four days, and three people had already died. The report was submitted in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Madhya Pradesh high court, which has sought accountability from the administration for allegedly failing to act in time to prevent loss of life.

The status report claims that only four deaths were caused by the contaminated water and asserts that there were no shortcomings in the healthcare response provided to affected residents. However, the document does not clearly establish the cause or source of the illness, a point that petitioners and residents have sharply criticised.

The government’s version of events stands in contrast to statements made by local leaders and residents. Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said on Friday that as many as 10 people had died due to the water contamination. Residents of Bhagirathpura have consistently blamed sewage leakage into potable water pipelines for the outbreak, alleging long-standing infrastructure neglect.

In its report to the court, the state government maintained that the situation was handled promptly once cases were officially reported. “On December 29, instances of diarrhoeal illness were reported from Bhagirathpura locality. Immediate cognizance was taken by the District Administration and Health Department,” the report stated. It added that patients were referred and admitted to government hospitals as well as empanelled private hospitals without delay.

The administration further claimed that medical care was adequate and that allegations of patients being left unattended were unfounded. “There are no shortcomings in the healthcare services provided to the affected persons,” the report said, directly countering claims made in the PIL and by residents.

According to the government, a total of 30 doctors were deployed in the affected area, and on December 30, senior health officials and epidemiological experts were assigned to supervise the situation on the ground. These officers were tasked with compiling data, monitoring cases, and providing continuous updates to senior authorities. The report stressed that the measures taken demonstrated that the outbreak was treated as a public health contingency rather than a routine medical issue.

The state also said that on December 30, all private hospitals in the city were directed to provide free treatment, diagnosis and medicines to those affected by the contaminated water. In addition, teams were sent door to door in Bhagirathpura to identify any remaining or newly affected persons and to ensure that there was no residual or recurring health risk.

Despite these assurances, the timeline laid out in the report raises troubling questions. Residents and local representatives say warning signs were visible long before December 29. A resident of the locality told Hindustan Times that complaints about water quality had been raised as early as July, suggesting that the problem may have been festering for months without effective intervention.

Local councillor Kamal Baghela told news agency PTI that residents reported a foul smell in the water supply on December 25, four days before the administration formally acknowledged the outbreak. By then, several people had already fallen ill with diarrhoeal symptoms, pointing to contamination in the drinking water supply.

Tragically, at least one death occurred even before the state swung into action. Sixty-year-old Urmila Yadav died on December 28 after suffering from severe diarrhoea, a day before officials say they took cognisance of the situation. On December 29, two more residents — 29-year-old Uma Kori and 74-year-old Manjulal Vadhe — died after experiencing similar symptoms. These deaths, combined with mounting hospital admissions, appear to have finally triggered an official response.

While the government has sought to project its response as swift and adequate, the PIL before the high court paints a different picture. The petition alleges administrative apathy and failure to act on repeated complaints from residents, resulting in preventable loss of life. It argues that timely intervention, including checking water quality and repairing pipelines, could have averted the crisis.

A key point of contention is the absence of clarity on the cause of the outbreak. The status report acknowledges that an investigation into the source of the illness is ongoing but provides no substantive findings. “An investigation into the cause and source of the illness, including assessment of water quality, is ongoing as per statutory procedure,” the report said.

For petitioners, this lack of detail is unacceptable. Advocate Ritesh Inani, who filed the PIL, criticised the government for sidestepping the most crucial issue. “The state government is hiding the important thing in the report — what caused this incident,” he said. “They have just mentioned a line about it.”

Residents’ allegations of sewage mixing with drinking water have added to public anger. Bhagirathpura is an old locality with ageing water and sewage infrastructure, and locals say leaks and cross-contamination are not uncommon. They argue that repeated complaints about foul-smelling and discoloured water were ignored until the situation escalated into a health emergency.

The controversy has once again highlighted the fragile state of urban infrastructure in fast-growing cities like Indore, which is often showcased as one of India’s cleanest cities under the Swachh Bharat rankings. Critics say the incident exposes a gap between cosmetic cleanliness drives and the basic safety of essential services such as drinking water supply.

The high court is now examining whether the administration failed in its duty of care and whether accountability should be fixed on officials responsible for water supply and public health. The PIL seeks not only compensation for the victims’ families but also systemic reforms to prevent similar incidents in the future.

As the investigation continues, families of those who died are still awaiting answers. For them, the question is not merely how many doctors were deployed after the fact, but why early warnings were allegedly ignored and why action came only after lives were lost. The court’s scrutiny of the government’s status report may determine whether this tragedy leads to meaningful accountability or fades into yet another statistic of administrative delay.