Another woman dies in Indore water contamination case, unofficial death toll rises to 32

Another woman on ventilator support died during treatment at a hospital in Indore on Sunday night, taking the unofficial death toll to 32. The deaths are allegedly linked to the consumption of contaminated drinking water from the Narmada river supplied by the Indore Municipal Corporation to households in the Bhagirathpura locality of the city in Madhya Pradesh.

The latest fatality has been identified as Anita Kushwah (65), who had been undergoing treatment for over a month at Bombay Hospital, where she was on ventilator support.

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Family members said she was initially admitted to Bhagyashree Hospital on December 28 after suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Although she was discharged two days later, her condition deteriorated within hours of returning home. She was readmitted to Aurobindo Hospital on January 1 and later shifted to Bombay Hospital on January 4 as her health continued to worsen.

Doctors said her kidneys failed during the course of treatment, necessitating continuous haemodialysis. She was subsequently placed on ventilator support and later suffered a cardiac arrest.

Indore Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Hasani said that she was provided treatment at a higher medical facility with government support, but could not be saved.

According to sources, three more patients remain hospitalised, two of whom are in critical condition and on ventilator support.

Local residents claim that at least 32 people have died so far due to the contaminated drinking water. However, the official death toll remains at 16, leading to an ongoing dispute over the actual number of fatalities linked to the incident.

The Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court heard the matter on January 27, during which the state government submitted a report stating that 23 deaths had been reported so far, but only 16 were officially attributed to contaminated drinking water.