As of the time of writing these lines, the number of deaths due to drinking contaminated water in Indore has reached 20. Thirty two people are still in the ICU, more than 398 are admitted to hospitals, and over 2,700 have already received treatment. The government is now claiming that the situation is under control. The truth is, nothing is stable. Given the quality of water being supplied and the condition of the patients and the general public, the number of sick people, critically ill patients, and deaths is constantly changing. The condition of about a dozen patients is said to be extremely critical.

Indore is considered the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. It is also called Mini Mumbai. But for the past eight years, Indore has been winning the title of the cleanest city in the country. Now, in this award-winning city, people are dying from drinking water. If even the cleanest city in the country does not have potable water, one can imagine the state of cleanliness and other facilities in the city. These deaths have exposed the hollowness of the claims being made on the basis of statistics and false reports. There was no space in the hospitals to admit patients. The people of this slum area could not afford to go to big private hospitals.

After these deaths, there is an uproar in the BJP. The Urban Administration Minister, who is also the MLA from the affected area, is saying that the officers do not listen to him. The officers act arbitrarily. The result is this tragedy. The city's mayor has also reiterated the same thing, saying that despite all his efforts, this situation arose because the municipal corporation officials do not follow his orders. Now, Uma Bharti, a BJP leader and former Chief Minister, has responded to this. Targeting these leaders, Uma Bharti said that if the officers do not listen to you or you have no authority, then why are you still in your positions? Why don't you resign?

There is another interesting point about Indore and this affected area of ​​Indore. The BJP often talks about the double-engine government. But in Indore, there's a triple engine government, or even more. The Member of Parliament from Indore is from the BJP. All nine assembly seats in Indore district are held by BJP MLAs. The affected area, Indore Constituency Number 2, has had a BJP MLA for 29 years. Currently, the MLA is Kailash Vijayvargiya, the Minister of Urban Administration. The corporator of the affected ward is also from the BJP. After the cabinet reshuffle, the Chief Minister has kept the charge of Indore with himself. Despite all this, if Indore is in this condition, then who is responsible?

While deaths are occurring here, attempts are being made to settle internal scores within the BJP. The question is, if the municipal corporation officials are not listening to the mayor, are they working at the behest of the minister in charge, i.e., the Chief Minister? If the municipal corporation employees and officers are not listening to the Urban Administration Minister, are they receiving instructions from somewhere else, i.e., from the Chief Minister? It is noteworthy that Kailash Vijayvargiya has previously stated that officials threaten ministers by taking the Chief Minister's name. Has this dance of death become another excuse to corner the Chief Minister? Now even the local corporator has said that the officers and employees don't listen to him. And then there's Uma Bharti, who is saying that if the officers don't listen, why are you sitting there, why don't you resign? The question is whether an attempt is being made to put the blame for these deaths on Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, when everyone is responsible. The real culprit is the commission that is distributed among politicians, officials, and contractors.

But does this blame game diminish the horror of this tragedy? And in a democracy, the responsibility for bureaucratic negligence ultimately falls on the political leadership. The BJP cannot escape responsibility for these deaths, no matter how hard it tries. Yet, the garrulous Urban Administration Minister uses unparliamentary and indecent language with a national channel's correspondent when questioned about these deaths. He flares up when asked questions, and his henchmen threaten the correspondent. He wants his statements to be accepted without question. The minister's son, a former MLA from the area who once beat up an officer with a cricket bat, asks, "If the water was dirty, why did they drink it? They had been drinking it for so many years, why didn't they fall ill then?"

Even when the death toll has reached 17, the BJP is still talking about only four, and now six, deaths. Even in this time of grief and unbearable pain, they are rubbing salt in the wounds of the families. While the families were mourning the deaths of their loved ones, BJP leaders and ministers arrived with video cameras to hand over checks of Rs 3 lakh to the families. However, when public anger erupted, they were forced to retreat. While the administration and the BJP are claiming that everything is now under control, opposition party workers are being prevented from visiting the affected area and meeting the affected families.

This situation is not limited to Indore; it is prevalent throughout the state. A 2024 CAG report warned that 9.33 lakh citizens in the two major metropolitan cities of Bhopal and Indore were drinking contaminated water. The report stated that the situation in Bhopal was even more critical than in Indore. According to the report, 5.33 lakh citizens in Bhopal and 3.62 lakh citizens in Indore are forced to drink contaminated water and are falling ill from waterborne diseases. The news now emerging indicates that most municipal bodies in the state are supplying contaminated water.

 According to a survey conducted by a non-governmental organization in 2024 regarding drinking water, 67 percent of the samples taken from urban bodies in the state failed the quality test. In rural areas, 37 percent of the water samples failed. However, the BJP and its government object to discussing this issue. After the Indore tragedy, when a journalist questioned the contaminated Narmada river water, Kailash Vijayvargiya's response was, "Don't question the Narmada. The Narmada is a matter of our faith."

The question is, if we don't question the government about contaminated drinking water, the diseases caused by it, and the drinking water crisis, then what should we question them about? If a responsible minister uses unparliamentary and indecent language when questioned, and the government doesn't even question that minister, then the fascist face of the BJP government is completely exposed.

While the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh talks about the state's development, the situation in urban bodies is such that out of 378 urban bodies, 207 are not supplying drinking water to the public every day, 128 urban bodies supply drinking water alternative day, 50 urban bodies supply water every two days. And in 29 urban bodies, the public receives water only after three days. If this is the situation in the winter season, the severity of the drinking water crisis in the scorching summer can be easily understood.

According to the government's own report on rural areas, out of 1.35 lakh settlements, 85,000 settlements have 55 liters of water available per person. This report acknowledges the reality that 50,000 settlements are struggling for water. This means that more than 37 percent of the settlements are facing a drinking water crisis. The other aspect is that in the 85,000 settlements where drinking water is claimed to be available, this water comes from wells, ponds, rivers, streams, and handpumps, the quality of which is never tested. Under the tap water scheme, only 19 percent of rural families are currently receiving water. This is also a claim made by the government. It's possible that even half of these were simply dumped there without any proper treatment.

The government had informed the Legislative Assembly a few years ago that nearly half of the handpumps and tube wells in rural areas had dried up. A large portion of those that are still functional are controlled by powerful individuals, where poor people dare not go to fetch water. A new breed of water mafia has emerged in towns and big villages. They exploit groundwater and supply it to settlements through their networks, charging exorbitant prices. Like all mafias, the water mafia also enjoys the protection of the BJP.

And then there's the Water Mission (JAL MISSION). It has fallen prey to corruption. Recently, in a scam worth one thousand crore rupees, an officer conducted an investigation and gave himself and the minister a clean chit. Both the minister and the officer are still safe because the spoils of the scam have reached the highest levels.

Yet, questioning these issues is considered a crime. In Dewas, an SDM (Sub-Divisional Magistrate) was suspended for including the words of Kailash Vijayvargiya while granting permission for a protest. There is also speculation that the reason behind the removal of the editor of Lallantop was exposing the facts related to Kailash Vijayvargiya and the Indore accident. But these repressive actions do not silence voices. Protests are still going on, and the silence of the mainstream media is being countered through social media.