Rahul Gandhi Visits Indore Outbreak Zone
Congress leader meets patients, grieving families amid dispute over death toll from water contamination.
GG News Bureau
Indore, 17th Jan: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday visited Indore to meet patients and families affected by the vomiting and diarrhoea outbreak linked to water contamination in Bhagirathpura locality.
Gandhi first went to Bombay Hospital, a private facility, where he met four patients undergoing treatment. He enquired about their health, spoke to their families and assured them of support.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari and senior party leader Umang Singhar accompanied him.
Later, Gandhi visited Bhagirathpura, the area where the outbreak was first reported last month. He met families of the deceased, expressed condolences and consoled grieving relatives. Heavy security was deployed in the locality, with police installing barricades at several locations ahead of his visit.
Residents of Bhagirathpura claim that 24 people have died so far due to the outbreak. However, the state government, in its status report submitted to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, has put the official toll at seven, including a five-month-old infant.
Meanwhile, a ‘death audit’ report prepared by a committee of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College indicated that the deaths of 15 people in Bhagirathpura could be linked to the outbreak in some manner.
The district administration has paid compensation of ₹2 lakh each to the families of 21 deceased persons since the crisis began.
Officials said that while some deaths were due to other illnesses and medical causes, financial assistance was extended to all bereaved families on humanitarian grounds.
