Daijiworld Media Network - Indore
Indore, Jan 2: A six-month-old child, born after 10 years of prayers and vows, died after allegedly consuming contaminated water in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, in an outbreak that has claimed at least seven lives, plunging families in the area into deep grief.
An eerie silence prevails in the Marathi Mohalla of Bhagirathpura, where baby Avyan Sahu lived with his family. A simple act of diluting packaged milk with water from a municipal tap reportedly proved fatal for the infant, who died on December 29.
The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for families of the deceased, but Avyan’s family said they have refused the compensation. “We have not taken any compensation from the state government so far. Our child is gone. Will money bring him back? Money is not greater than a child,” Avyan’s grandmother Krishna Sahu told PTI.
She said Avyan was born after a decade of fervent prayers and vows made by the family. “We prayed for years and made a vow at Hussain Tekri Dargah. My prayers were answered, but I never imagined that the baby would leave us so soon,” she said, breaking down.
According to the family, the child was healthy and weighed around five kilograms. “He used to play in his mother’s lap. One day, he suddenly developed diarrhoea. We started medicines on a doctor’s advice, but his condition worsened and he was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” Sahu said.
Due to insufficient breast milk, the infant was fed packaged milk and milk powder mixed with tap water. The family alleged that contaminated water was the cause of his death.
Residents of Bhagirathpura claimed that around 15 people have died over the past year due to vomiting and diarrhoea linked to contaminated drinking water, with Avyan being the youngest victim. However, the health department said only four deaths were officially recorded in the outbreak.
Neighbour Anita Sen said the tragedy has left families terrified. “There is a one-month-old girl, a four-year-old child and a 10-year-old girl in my house. The government must ensure that no mother loses her child due to contaminated water,” she said.
More than 1,400 people have been affected by vomiting and diarrhohoea in Bhagirathpura over the past nine days. Health department officials said 272 patients were admitted to hospitals till Thursday, of whom 71 have been discharged. At least 32 patients remain in intensive care units, undergoing treatment.