Panel says Indore water deaths followed years of infrastructure and oversight failures

A judicial commission investigating deaths linked to contaminated water in Indore has called the tragedy preventable and blamed institutional failures, infrastructure problems and delays in corrective work. The one-member panel, headed by former Madhya Pradesh High Court judge Sushil Kumar Gupta, submitted its report to the Indore Bench of the High Court on August 18. It said more than 100 people suffered acute gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, vomiting and severe dehydration after consuming contaminated water between December 2025 and February 2026.

The report linked 22 deaths to the incident based on hospital records, although the wider tragedy was reported to have claimed more than 30 lives. It identified Bhagirathpura as the hotspot and cited delays of more than 859 days in tenders, approvals and related work. The commission held former Indore Municipal Corporation officials Rohit Sisonia and Sanjeev Shrivastava primarily responsible for several delays.

It highlighted a 72-day delay in processing a tender to replace a damaged water pipeline between October 15 and December 26, 2025. The panel cleared former municipal commissioners Dilip Kumar Yadav and Shivam Verma of responsibility for the tender delay, saying they lacked the relevant decision-making authority or had left office before key stages of the process. Water testing found total coliform in 50 of 52 samples and E.

coli in 40, confirming bacterial contamination. The report said sewage entered the drinking-water distribution system because sewer and water pipelines had been laid too close together, crossed one another or, in some places, placed sewage lines above water pipes. The commission also cited ageing networks, leaks, inadequate inspection and maintenance, weak monitoring of water quality, delayed action and poor coordination.

It said the municipal corporation and development authority failed to produce several historical infrastructure records and recommended a separate investigation into their disappearance or non-availability. Justice Gupta concluded that the incident resulted from cumulative failures over several decades rather than a single act of negligence.