January 12, 2026 01:28 PM IST First published on: Jan 12, 2026 at 01:28 PM ISTAlso by Nirmala Rao KhadpekarAmong the basic expectations that people have of their municipalities is that their water should be safe to drink. However, as the unfolding tragedy in Indore demonstrates, this expectation of people from a city that has been recognised as the cleanest in the country for eight years wasn’t fulfilled. At least 10 people have lost their lives, and more than 200 have fallen sick. A sewage pit at a police outpost was leaking into the water pipe below. It is a travesty of city planning that a government building did not have a connection with the sewerage system. Given that it was located just above a major water pipeline, the disaster was waiting to happen. It seems that basic civil engineering and public health rules were flouted. The episode betrays a low level of understanding of nightsoil disposal and water supply safety.AdvertisementWhat went wrong in Indore when the city was getting most things right about cleanliness? Can the tragedy be attributed to complacence, incompetence, lack of planning systems, faulty execution, not paying attention to complaints about water quality? The inquiry committee report should fix accountability. But Indore is not the only city with problems related to contaminated water. In India, several supply systems are unsafe, management systems are poor, investment isn’t adequate, and despite government programmes, clean water doesn’t receive political priority – very often, administrative focus doesn’t match policy. There are reports of water contamination from several cities, including the recent typhoid cases in Gandhinagar. Reports of bad water quality have surfaced from Bengaluru as well. The number of people who develop diarrhea and related water-borne diseases in India is in the millions.Also Read | Indore tragedy points to rot in urban governanceWhat should the country do to fix the issue? It needs a long-term plan, stretching over 10 to 15 years, equipped with adequate resources. Short-term measures should include auditing water quality management systems and making them ISO compliant. National guidelines on water quality systems should be adopted, and an SOP should be developed to implement them. To make the system foolproof, a third party should be involved in testing and in receiving and processing complaints. Water and sewage system complaint numbers should be made public, and the authorities should ensure that this information is easily available. A complaint about poor water quality must be probed within eight hours and in case of contamination, the affected pipeline should be closed and tankers should be mobilised to supply water. In the UK, the water authorities are mandated to provide bottled water to each affected household if the public water supply is of poor quality and is shut off. This should be the standard for Viksit Bharat.Procedures for regular water quality surveillance should be instituted, and the results should be made public — similar to AQI or weather details — on a daily basis. Water testing should include not only bacteriological tests, which can warn about sewage contamination, but also testing for pesticide contamination, which is increasing due to heavy use of these chemicals in agriculture. A similar surveillance system should be put in place for the sewage system — overflow, blockage, areas of open defecation, untreated sewage being dumped in rivers, rivulets, and water bodies, or flowing on ground should be monitored and checked immediately. Such data should also be published in the media. This will ensure that social and political focus on the matter. Surveillance authorities should keep a watch to prevent water-borne and epidemic- inducing diseases like diarrhea and vomiting, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and viral jaundice. The Integrated Disease Surveillance System needs to be upgraded to include water contamination complaints and water quality data. The surveillance system should also gauge antibiotic resistance among the bacteria that cause these diseases. The mortality rate in Indore — 10 deaths out of roughly 200 hospital admissions – of 5 per cent is much higher than that in gastroenteritis cases – about 1 or 0.5 per cent. This indicates that the bacteria were either highly virulent or antibiotic resistant, or treatment was delayed or inadequate.AdvertisementThe Supreme Court has consistently held that the right to a pollution-free environment, including clean air and water, is inherent in the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. To ensure this fundamental right, all cities, towns, and villages must immediately audit / review their water supply and sewage system and find out potential fail points where contamination can occur. They should fix the issue before it leads to epidemics. Smart City charters should be rewritten to include water and air safety parameters. What is the point of having smart cities that leverage technology, internet, WIFI, CCTV, central command and control centers, if they cannot provide basic clean water? India cannot be a Viksit Bharat unless we have top-quality water and sewage management systems.Mavalankar is a former director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, and Khadpekar is an independent analyst