A heavy silence hangs over a small house in Indore’s Bhagirathpura locality. A 60-year-old woman sits quietly on the porch, repeating the same line: “God gave us happiness after ten years... and then God took it away.” Inside the house, a small bed of five-and-a-half-month-old Avyaan Sahu lies empty.
Avyaan was born on July 8, nearly a decade after his sister, Kinjal, NDTV reported Avyaan’s father, Sunil Sahu, who works with a private courier company, as saying. He was healthy until just two days he contracted fever and diarrhoea. They took him to a doctor and did the needful. However, the anti-fever medicine did little to improve his condition, and by Sunday evening, he was very ill and passed away on Monday morning on the way to the hospital.
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Family suspects contaminated water
As per the report by NDTV, the cause of the illness, as suspected by the family, is the water that might be contaminated in the area. Avyaan’s father says no one in the family was ever told that the water wasn’t safe. Like their neighbours, they tried to stay careful, filtered the water, added alum, and kept to the usual precautions.
“I believe the water we mixed into the milk harmed him”, Sunil said, adding, “My wife couldn't produce milk, so we added water to packaged milk, as advised by doctors. We used Narmada tap water. We never imagined it was so polluted. He had diarrhoea for two days. We gave him medicine. Then suddenly he collapsed. Only later did people here tell us the truth.”
Sunil’s mother said, “We are poor. Our son has a private job. That's what runs the house. We cannot accuse anyone. God gave us happiness... and then took it away.” Avyaan's mother floats in and out of her consciousness.
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Indore water contamination toll rises
At least 10 deaths and more than 150 hospitalisations have been reported due to the consumption of contaminated water in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area. Preliminary reports, which initially pointed towards a toxic substance or pesticide, now confirm the possibility of the presence of bacteria found in sewer water, as stated by reports.
Three days into the epidemic, sources familiar with the inquiry told Hindustan Times that preliminary lab tests had revealed abnormal levels of bacteria “generally found in sewer water” in the vicinity where the outbreak had occurred, as had previously been suspected.
