Bhopal, Jan 8 (PTI) Opposition Congress on Thursday hit out at the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh over the deaths in Indore due to water contamination, saying clean water and not a cleanliness award is needed to keep people alive.
Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Umang Singhar, also sought to know how Indore won the cleanest city tag eight times in a row considering that “poison” was flowing from the taps in the city, and alleged that the government “obtained” the cleanliness awards on the basis of “fake documents”.
The criticism drew the ruling BJP’s sharp reaction, which accused the Congress of indulging in “politics over corpses” and said the government took action immediately after water contamination came to light.
Bhagirathpura locality in Indore witnessed an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting in the last week of December 2025, which was attributed to consumption of contaminated water. Authorities later said a public toilet was found constructed above a water supply pipeline, which might have led to the contamination.
The confusion over the number of deaths due to contaminated water continued after the district administration on Tuesday distributed compensation cheques to the kin of 18 victims, while maintaining the official figure at seven.
Singhar on Thursday visited the affected areas in Indore to check the water quality.
Addressing a press conference here, he said, “BJP-led government’s claims of cleanliness and Developed India have completely failed on the ground, as poison is flowing from the taps here.” “Indore has received the Cleanest City award eight times with top ranking. But if people here are forced to drink sewage water, then this cleanliness ranking has no meaning. Something is wrong somewhere… something is wrong with the paperwork. How did they get the award eight times? Government officials know how they obtained the award using fake documents,” Singhar alleged.
“Is this the cleanest city in the country with a municipal budget of over Rs 8,000 crore – the highest in the state? Yet citizens are unable to access clean drinking water,” he said.
Singhar visited Madina Nagar, Khajrana, Bhuri Tekri, Barfani Dham, Krishna Bagh, and Kanadia areas, located in the range of five to 18 kilometers from Bhagirathpura.
“I tested the water quality in these areas and the conclusion is that the BJP government’s claims of cleanliness and a developed India have completely failed on the ground. From Bhagirathpura to many other areas of Indore, smelly, and sewage-contaminated water is flowing from the taps, which is proof that this is not just a problem in one area, but a systemic failure of the entire city administration,” he said.
Accusing the government of suppressing the real death toll of contaminated water, and claimed that 20 people have died so far due to it.
Targeting the Mohan Yadav-led government, he said, “Cleanliness awards do not keep people alive, but clean water is needed to survive, and the state government has failed in this.” The Congress leader demanded that the quality of water be tested throughout the state, and appealed to all public representatives and citizens to do the same in their respective areas for the safety of people.
He demanded that a criminal case be registered in this matter, immediate action be taken against the culprits, and also sought the resignation of Indore mayor.
Reacting to the charges, state BJP spokesperson Neha Bagga accused the Congress of engaging in “politics over corpses”, referring to the deaths caused by water contamination.
“If Congress has any concrete suggestions, it should provide them to the government instead of engaging in such dirty politics,” she said.
Bagga said when state Congress president Jitu Patwari served as an MLA from Indore (Rau seat) for a long time, he never raised any question about the quality of water.
“The BJP government took immediate action and it is continuously working to address the causes that led to the incident,” she said. PTI MAS NP
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