After contaminated water deaths, power, protest and protocol clash in MP
The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Dewas was suspended on Sunday for allegedly referring to Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya’s controversial “ghanta” comments as “highly objectionable”. Ujjain division revenue commissioner Ashish Singh suspended the SDM Anand Malviya on charges of serious negligence, indifference, and irregularities in the discharge of official duties.
Malviya had issued an order saying “ghanta remarks highly objectionable” and that law and order in the district had been affected over the Congress protests in the Indore contamination case. Malviya has been charged with serious negligence and irregularity in the discharge of official duties while dealing with a highly sensitive matter.
According to the suspension order issued by the office of the Commissioner, Ujjain Division, based on information received on January 3 regarding a proposed protest, an official order was issued without proper verification. The SDM’s order alleged that the deaths occurred after people consumed “contaminated and dirty water supplied by the BJP-run municipal corporation” in Indore. “In Indore, due to consumption of contaminated and dirty water supplied by the BJP-run municipal corporation, 14 people have died and 2,800 persons are undergoing treatment,” it read.
Referring to Vijayvargiya’s remarks on the issue, it described the comment as “inhuman and a symbol of authoritarian behaviour.” It added that the use of the word “ghanta” on such a sensitive matter was “highly objectionable”.
“On this sensitive issue, the objectionable remark made by a State Government minister, the use of the word ‘ghanta’ is a sign of inhuman and authoritarian behaviour. The State Congress President Jitu Patwari, has taken a decision that in protest against this incident, BJP MPs and MLAs will be gheraoed,” the notice issued by the SDM read.Patwari has threatened to launch an agitation on January 11 if the party’s demands for rectification measures are not met. He demanded registration of a culpable homicide case against Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava and civic officials concerned.
The Commissioner held that the SDM’s act falls under the category of misconduct as defined under the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965. Citing Rule 9 of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966, the order states that Anand Malviya has been placed under suspension with immediate effect.
As many as 142 persons are currently hospitalised, including 11 in ICUs, amid an outbreak of diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water in Indore, while 20 new patients were detected during screening of over 9,000 people in the Bhagirathpura area, the ground zero of infection. Health teams examined 9,416 individuals from 2,354 households during an ongoing survey in Bhagirathpura, where six persons have lost their lives due to contaminated water, and identified 20 fresh cases, officials said on Sunday. According to officials, 398 patients had been admitted to hospitals so far following the outbreak. Of them, 256 patients have been discharged after recovery.
Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Madhav Prasad Haasani said a team from the Kolkata-based National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (NIRBI) has arrived in Indore to probe the health crisis. The administration has confirmed six deaths so far. Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava had put the death toll at 10, whereas locals claimed that 16 persons, including a six-month-old child, died due to the diarrhoea outbreak. Amid the outrage over deaths, the Congress staged bell-ringing protests across Madhya Pradesh demanding the resignation of senior minister Kailash Vijayvargiya over the usage of the word “ghanta” while responding to reporters’ questions about the developments in Indore.
Vijayvargiya sparked a row on the night of December 31 when he responded with the expression “ghanta” to a question by media when asked about the water contamination crisis. Congress demanded a judicial inquiry and sacking of Vijayvargiya, who holds the Urban Development and Housing portfolios, since Bhagirathpura is part of his Indore-1 assembly constituency.
