Indore water deaths probe report manipulated to protect BJP leaders, alleges Congress

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LoP in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly and Congress leader Umang Singhar with party MLAs stages a protest over Indore's water contamination deaths, during the Budget session of the State Assembly, in Bhopal, on February 17, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Congress on Friday (October 2, 2026) alleged that the one-man judicial commission report on the Indore water contamination tragedy was “manipulated to protect” various Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including city Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava and Bhagirathpura councillor Kamal Baghela, by “putting pressure” on retired Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta, who headed the panel.  

Addressing a press conference in Indore, Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Umang Singhar said the water quality in India’s cleanest city had fallen to the level of “small villages in Africa”, and sought a First Information Report against those responsible for the tragedy, that claimed more than 30 lives between December 2025 and February 2026.

“This is the 21st century but even quality drinking water is not being made available. The situation in Indore, which is an economically emerging city, is today similar to that in Africa’s small villages. The Indore Municipal Corporation [IMC] has an annual budget of ₹8,500 crore,” he said, accusing the BJP of failing to provide clean drinking water despite having all the posts from the councillor to the government. 

Citing an IMC report, Mr. Singhar claimed that many areas and various government hospitals in Indore were still receiving water, contaminated with bacteria such as E. Coli, even after eight months since the tragedy. The Congress leader said no political responsibility had been fixed in the probe report.

Mr. Singhar accused the BJP government of failing to fix accountability, despite the probe report blaming the tragedy on institutional failure due to several long delays that go up to 859 days in replacing or repairing the damaged water pipeline in Bhagirathpura, the hot spot of the tragedy. 

“I can say with accountability that even this report has been manipulated. The government put pressure on the retired judge to put blame on two officials and ‘save our councillor, Mayor and Minister [and local MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya],” he charged. 

“The judicial inquiry revealed that the concerned tender file remained pending for 66 days [between November 2022 and January 2023] awaiting the Mayor’s signature. Despite this, the Commission did not fix personal responsibility on the Mayor,” Mr. Singhar said. 

The report says “no personal responsibility can fairly be fastened upon the Mayor in the absence of specific evidence showing that the file was actually placed before the Mayor and remained pending with him without any justification”.

Mr. Singhar also alleged that the government did not want the report to be made public, which was later done on the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s directions. 

In Focus podcast | Indore deaths: What ails the water supply systems in India?

The Congress leader also raised questions over the non-availability of documents and blueprints related to the laying of sewage network in Bhagirathpura in 1990-95 and water pipeline in 1999-2004, which the Commission has flagged in its report. 

The Commission held guilty the then IMC Additional Commissioner (water supply) Rohit Sisonia and then executive engineer (water supply) Sanjeev Shrivastava among other officials of the IMC and the Indore Development Authority, while giving clean chit to two former civic body commissioners.

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