‘I unknowingly poisoned my own child’:Bhagirathpura mother who lost 5-month-old asks officials, can anyone bring my son back?

My 5-month-old son is gone, it is his sacrifice that a new pipeline is now being laid. The only peace in my heart is that the work that hadn’t been done for years started after his death. My son died and became immortal. I wish that what happened to me doesn’t happen to any other mother in the world. Saying this, Sadhana Sahu’s voice falters, though there is a strange peace in her words. Peace in the fact that her son’s sacrifice perhaps saved hundreds of other lives. Actually, 5-month-old Avyan died in the Bhagirathpura tragedy in Indore. Avyan’s mother Sadhana unknowingly gave him milk mixed with poisonous water. He suffered from vomiting and diarrhea and passed away within two days. Long after Avyan’s death, a Bhaskar reporter spoke to his mother Sadhana to understand who she holds responsible for this entire tragedy. It should be noted that after the death of 21 people in Bhagirathpura, pipeline laying work is now rapidly underway there. The price of this development was paid by 5-month-old Avyan with his life. Read the report. Ten years of prayers and five months of happiness
Avyaan’s birth was nothing short of a celebration for the Sahu family. After 10 years of his sister’s birth, countless prayers and wishes, the sound of a baby’s cry echoed in the house. He was not only the only lamp of his parents but also of his paternal and maternal grandparents’ lineage. In August, on the day of Raksha Bandhan, when Avyaan came home from the hospital, the family welcomed him as if a king had arrived. He became the apple of not only his family’s eyes but also the neighbors’. His mother Sadhana celebrated his birthday on the 8th of every month. Every month she would take a new picture, so that when he grew up, she could show him how his childhood was cherished. When he was just 3 months old on Janmashtami, his mother dressed him in Krishna’s clothes. Looking at those pictures today, Sadhana breaks down. Sadhana, who had completed her MA in Political Science and B.Ed, was a teacher at a convent school. But before her son’s birth, the doctor advised bed rest, so she quit her job. Her entire world now revolved around Avyaan. She says, “It was my misfortune that I produced less milk. We used to feed him outside milk.” Those 48 hours: When breaths stopped
The family’s happiness was overshadowed on December 26. The father says, “The child complained of loose motion, so we took him to the doctor. The doctor gave medicines and said that if there was no improvement, bring him back after two days.” The family thought it was a common problem among children. Around 4-5 AM on Monday, Avyan’s condition suddenly worsened. The family rushed him to the city’s major CHL Apollo Hospital. But by the time they reached there, it was too late. Doctors said, “He has stopped breathing.” The parents who had taken their child for treatment returned home with his dead body. The father’s voice cracks, “At that moment, we were shattered. We couldn’t understand what had suddenly happened.” When it was discovered, the killer was in the tap at home
When the family returned home with Avyan’s body, they had no idea of the real cause of death. They were blaming it on their fate. But as soon as they reached home, what the neighbors told them made their jaws drop. Neighbors said that this problem was not just in their house, but in the entire Bhagirathpura. Here, someone in every house is sick with vomiting and diarrhea. Then the family understood that their son’s life was not taken by a disease, but by the water they considered the source of life. The father says, “If we had even the slightest suspicion, we would not have given our son a single drop of water. But perhaps fate had this in store.” Sadhana says, “I hold the Municipal Corporation responsible for this entire incident. People had been complaining about dirty water for months, but there was no improvement. I would request that the complaints of common people be heard.” System wakes up after one death
Avyan’s death woke up the system that had been in a deep slumber for months. In the neighborhood where complaints had no effect, the work of laying new pipelines began within two days of Avyan’s death. The work of replacing Narmada pipelines is also going on war footing in other lanes. This swiftness is like rubbing salt in the wounds of a family whose light has been extinguished forever. The father says, ‘We installed an RO system at home two days ago, so that the lives of the rest of the family members can be saved.’ This is a symbol of a common citizen’s distrust in the system, where they have to make their own arrangements for their safety. “Everyone considers themselves guilty”
Avyan’s death has broken the entire family. A strange silence has spread in the house, where laughter echoed until a few days ago. The father says, “After the child’s passing, no one in the house feels like working anymore. My mother (Avyan’s grandmother) remains ill. I managed to convince my elder daughter with great difficulty to send her to school today. My father (Avyaan’s grandfather) also wakes up at night and keeps crying. Everyone is broken. Who should blame whom Everyone blames themselves.” The father, who works as a courier, hasn’t gone to the office since his son passed away. He says, “I don’t feel like working. I had never taken a photo of the child, I had only taken one photo. That same photo is now being published in newspapers and media. ‘Avyaan’ named after the remover of obstacles
Sadhana says that she and her daughter together named her son ‘Avyaan’ after Lord Ganpati. Ganpati, who removes all obstacles. See the irony, the same Avyaan sacrificed himself fighting against the system’s obstacles. She says that her son has left a question: Is it always necessary to wait for someone’s sacrifice for development and improvement?