Indore, April 7 Residents of the Bhagirathpura area in Indore, who lost loved ones due to contaminated drinking water, stormed the civic body's budget conference on Tuesday, where they vehemently pointed out that they had yet to receive any compensation from the government despite promises.
Eyewitnesses said the affected residents of Bhagirathpura arrived at the conference with local Congress leaders and waved posters from the audience gallery, staging a vehement protest. This led to a brief disruption during the meeting.
Speaking to reporters, Sonali Kadam, one of the protesters, said, "My mother-in-law died due to contaminated water in December last year. Despite numerous assurances given over the past four months, my family has not yet received the government compensation of Rs 2 lakh."
Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava described the water contamination tragedy as unfortunate and expressed grief over the deaths.
"Work on laying new drinking water and drainage lines in Bhagirathpura is progressing rapidly. Jobs will be provided to the families of those who died due to contaminated drinking water," he said.
He attacked the Congress party for the uproar during the civic body's budget conference over the contaminated drinking water tragedy, accusing the party of playing politics over dead bodies.
"Congress leaders created a shameful ruckus at the municipal corporation's conference when we were paying tributes to those who died due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura," he said.
Officials said that the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura began in late December last year. Local residents and the Congress have claimed a total of 36 deaths so far in this outbreak.
However, amid uproar in the state assembly during a discussion on the issue on February 19, state Health Minister Rajendra Shukla said 22 people had died due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura and that the families of each deceased would be given Rs 2 lakh.
A one-member commission headed by Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta, a former judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, is investigating the contaminated drinking water tragedy.