High Court hearing in Bhagirathpura contaminated water incident today:Inquiry commission to submit report; court earlier expressed displeasure with Govt and Municipal Corporation

In the case of deaths occurring due to contaminated water in Indore’s Bhagiratpura area, a hearing will be held in the High Court today, April 6. In the previous hearing, the inquiry commission had submitted its preliminary report to the court. The court had given the commission 30 days to submit a detailed report. During the previous hearing, Senior Advocate Ajay Bagadiya had filed an interim application to bring additional facts on record. It claimed that potassium chloride tablets were allegedly added to the overhead tank in Ward 11 of Bhagiratpura. Ajay Bagadiya had claimed that these tablets were purchased from a private shop outside the municipal corporation’s official procurement process. They were added to the tank based on verbal instructions. However, potassium chloride is not an approved substance for purifying drinking water. In this context, a demand has been made for an impartial police investigation into this entire matter. Contaminated water found up to the last tanks Lawyer Bagadia informed the court that water in the distribution line coming from Jalud was found to be completely standard-compliant and unpolluted up to the third last tank. However, water in the second last and last tanks of the same line, which supply water to the Bhagirathpura area, was found to be contaminated. The petition also stated that the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) report showed the presence of total and fecal coliform bacteria in groundwater in several areas of the city. Despite this, cases of illness and deaths were limited only to the Bhagirathpura area. Orders to present records within 10 days During the hearing, it also came to light that several records were requested from the municipal corporation in this matter, but they have not yet been presented before the investigation committee. On this, the court directed that the municipal corporation should provide all necessary records to the investigation committee on a priority basis within 10 days. During the hearing, along with Senior Advocate Ajay Bagadia, advocates Ritesh Inani, Neeraj Soni, Rishi Kumar Chaukse, and others were also present. High Court has expressed strong displeasure before as well In the previous hearing, the court had expressed strong displeasure by terming the government and municipal corporation’s report as ‘eye-wash’. The court had said that this matter is related to a serious public health emergency. The court also clarified that providing clean drinking water is part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Considering the intensity of the matter, the High Court has directed the formation of a single-member independent inquiry commission under the chairmanship of retired Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta. This commission will investigate the entire matter and present its report before the court.