700 complaints failed to trigger action in Indore water contamination:Appeals made to Mayor helpline CM before fatalities; how inaction led to tragedy

After 16 people died due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura, Indore, the state government issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all 16 municipal corporations and 413 urban bodies. Under the SOP, every urban body must inspect drinking water pipelines within seven days. In reality, Indore residents had been repeatedly complaining about dirty water for the past six months through the Municipal Corporation’s 311 Mayor Helpline. When no action was taken, complaints were also filed on the CM Helpline. In Bhagirathpura ward alone, 11 complaints were sent to the Chief Minister. Despite this, officials failed to act. This Sunday Story examines, step by step, how both the 311 Mayor Helpline and the CM Helpline proved ineffective for citizens. Claim: Action in 3 seconds, Reality: 700 complaints pending Allegation: complaints closed without resolution Indore Municipal Corporation’s Leader of Opposition, Chintu Choukse, alleges that while minor complaints are addressed, serious and life-threatening issues, such as foul-smelling water, sewage leakage, and contamination of drinking water, are ignored. He says around 700 such complaints have been marked as ‘under resolution’ for months. Complaints from Bhagirathpura regarding dirty water were lost within this backlog. Victims ask: Where should we complain? The biggest failure of the digital system is its inaccessibility for people without technological knowledge. In Bhagirathpura, 70-year-old Laxmibai lives in a mud house behind which a sewage chamber overflows, allowing dirty water to enter her home. Suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, she neither owns a smartphone nor knows how to register a complaint. Crying, she says she cannot afford to raise her house and only wants the sewage chamber cleaned. Another resident, Deepak, says sewage lines mix with the drinking water tank outside his house. Residents clean dirt from the tank daily before water arrives. He alleges that even when complaints are made, officials either do not come or intimidate residents for complaining. After 16 deaths, promise to fix the system Smart City CEO Arth Jain says, Shortcomings have been identified and fixed, and officials will stay in touch with complainants even after resolution. After 16 deaths, promise to fix the system Arth Jain, CEO of Smart City, says, We have identified the shortcomings of the system and upgraded it. Now, every small or big complaint will be dealt with seriously, and even after resolution, the team will remain in contact with the complainant. CM helpline data tells a grim story CM Helpline data shows Indore tops the state in complaints about dirty water supply. Residents filed such complaints 100 times. In Bhagirathpura, where contaminated water claimed 15 lives, 11 complaints had already been sent to the Chief Minister. Despite this, no action was taken. Out of 100 complaints from Indore, 80 are pending at the Assistant Engineer level. This indicates failure at every level, from Water Engineer to Municipal Commissioner. Additionally, 550 sewage-related complaints from Indore are pending on the CM Helpline. Gwalior ranks second, with 59 complaints about dirty water supply, of which 47 remain unresolved. Rewa ranks third and Ratlam fourth. Dirty water in Ratlam’s 18 localities 69% complaints across 15 corporations stuck Out of 322 CM Helpline complaints across 15 municipal corporations, 229 did not progress beyond the initial level. Of these, 42 are pending with Water Engineers. In Jabalpur, four out of 16 complaints are pending at the Commissioner level. Government SOP after tragedy Ten days after the Indore deaths, the state government issued SOPs for urban water supply systems. These cover pipeline maintenance, leak detection, water quality monitoring, and grievance redressal. Cities must complete a water supply survey within seven days. Pipelines older than 20 years in densely populated areas must be identified and leaks repaired within 48 hours. Rs 1,000 crore spent, clean water still missing A 2019 CAG report revealed that 8.95 lakh people in Bhopal and Indore received contaminated water, 3.62 lakh in Bhopal and 5.33 lakh in Indore. Overhead tanks were not being cleaned regularly, yet no action was taken. Between 2013 and 2018, 4,481 water samples tested in these cities were unfit for drinking. Independent tests found fecal coliform in 10 of 54 samples. The government admitted that Rs 5.45 lakh people suffered waterborne diseases. The state took a $200 million (Rs 906.4 crore) loan from the Asian Development Bank for water management in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, and Gwalior. Only four years of the loan period remain, but clean water supply is still not fully ensured.