Indore: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday ordered disciplinary action against senior officials of the Indore Municipal Corporation following reports of 10 deaths linked to contaminated drinking water.

The directive, which included the immediate transfer of an additional commissioner, comes after more than 1,400 residents in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore fell ill over the past nine days with vomiting and diarrhoea. Officials identified a leak in the main drinking water supply pipeline beneath a toilet, which is believed to have caused the contamination.

Residents claimed that 15 people, including a six-month-old infant, died due to the outbreak. However, the health department has only verified four deaths so far. Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said he had received reports of 10 deaths.

The Chief Minister confirmed that the government has taken corrective measures and instructed officials to prepare a time-bound plan to prevent such incidents in the future.

In a post on social media platform X, CM Yadav said he had ordered show-cause notices for the Indore Municipal Corporation commissioner and additional commissioner during a review meeting on the water contamination issue.

He further stated that the additional commissioner had been immediately removed from Indore, and the responsibility for the water distribution department had been withdrawn from the in-charge superintendent engineer. “Necessary appointments are to be made immediately in the municipal corporation,” Yadav added. The review also included a discussion on the report submitted by the additional chief secretary of the Urban Administration and Development Department.

An official said that following the CM’s orders, a zonal officer and an assistant engineer of the IMC have already been suspended, and the in-charge sub-engineer has been dismissed with immediate effect.

Reacting to the incident, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on the matter despite promoting the Jal Jeevan Mission. He claimed that the Modi government and the BJP had failed to provide clean air or safe drinking water.

"This is the same Indore city that has clinched the 'Cleanest City' title for the eighth consecutive time in the central government's Swachh Sarvekshan survey. It's a shameful state of affairs that, due to the BJP's incompetence, people here are desperate for clean water," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.