Water, Water… Indore’s tragedy shows how badly water is managed in many Indian cities

In India, when something sounds too good to be true, it often is. Indore is often called India’s cleanest city, but a recent tragedy shows a very different reality. In the Bhagirathpura area of Indore, dirty tap water made thousands of people sick. In just 10 days, 10 people died, 272 were taken to hospital, and more than 2,000 fell ill.

What went wrong? A toilet built at a police check post was leaking. Its waste flowed into a pit that was built right above the main water pipeline. This is how the drinking water got contaminated.

The Madhya Pradesh government has promised to punish those responsible. But that does not help families who have lost loved ones, including a six-month-old baby. Clean and safe drinking water should be a basic service for everyone. If even the “cleanest” city cannot provide it, something is seriously wrong. One reason is that water safety is rarely an election issue. A 2018 NITI Aayog report showed that India ranked 120 out of 122 countries for water quality, and nearly 70% of our water is polluted.

The problem is not just where water comes from. In many cities, drinking water travels through old pipes that run next to sewage lines. When pipes are weak or pressure is low, dirty water can leak in. So a city may look clean on the surface, but have serious problems underground.

Indore has seen this before. In November, part of its 75-year-old Shastri Bridge collapsed because rats damaged its foundation. It might sound like a cartoon story, but this is real life. And in real life, poor planning and carelessness can cost people their lives.

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