Overview
- In court, the state reported E. coli in 51 tube wells in Bhagirathpura and attributed the outbreak to sewage entering drinking lines via a pipeline leak linked to a public toilet, after which tube wells were shut and tanker supply used.
- The Madhya Pradesh High Court reserved its order on pleas seeking a judicial inquiry and FIRs against officials, with the next hearing listed for January 28.
- The new committee is chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar Shukla with senior health and urban administrators, is empowered to obtain records and conduct site inspections, and must submit findings within one month.
- The crisis, which began in late December, has sickened thousands, with disputed death counts—seven in the state’s status report, 15 linked in a medical audit, and up to 24 claimed by residents—and Rs 2 lakh compensation paid to 21 families.
- Petitioners question transfers and fresh postings of officials and cite long-documented contamination risks and delayed pipeline works as evidence of systemic failure.