INDORE: There is dead silence in Bhagirathpura area of Indore. Apart from a few people in makeshift medical camps, the streets are empty. More than 200 people from the area were admitted to as many as 27 hospitals across the city after suffering from diarrhea. Most residents have been away tending to the sick since Monday evening, when they began vomiting and running high fevers. Nine people have died so far. Tragedy struck in Bhagirathpura when a pit used to dispose of waste from a toilet constructed at the local police check post began leaking, causing the sewage to mix with the main water supply pipe running directly below. Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) officials said the contractor diverted the toilet’s drain into a pit above the main water supply pipe instead of constructing a septic tank and connecting it to the sewage pipe. On Thursday, Sadhana Sahu, a teacher at a private school, sat on the doorstep of her home in Bhagirathpura and cried uncontrollably as Madhya Pradesh government officials scrambled to clarify responsibility, upgrade treatment plants and clean up the water supply system. She lost her six-month-old son. “Abhyan was born 10 years after our daughter was born. Bas, mera bachcha nahin raha (My child is no more),” Sadhana said. Abhyan’s father, Sunil Sahu, who works from home for an internet company, said: “He had diarrhea and fever. On December 26, we took him to a doctor. “The contaminated water caused his death. I mixed water with his milk and his health deteriorated,” Sadhana said. Wailings could be heard from some of the houses where death had struck. In almost every household in Bhagirathpura – home to around 15,000 people, most of whom live next to each other from economically weak sections – one or more people are affected. “We earn little and barely manage to survive,” said Alguram Yadav from Borasi ki Gali. His wife Urmila, 65, died on Sunday. His son Sanju, daughter-in-law Roshini and grandson Shivam (11 months) are admitted to hospitals with the same symptoms that took Urmila’s life. “No one had come to help, although some administration officials came to check. Kailash-ji (minister of state Kailash Vijayvargiya) came to hand over a check of Rs 2 lakh as compensation, the CM announced on Wednesday,” he said.
