Indore: A person shows a sample of the drinking water that is being collected following a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water, at Bhagirathpura area, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

INDORE: Deaths in the Indore water contamination tragedy, which rose to 10 Friday, could have been avoided had red flags raised by a BJP corporator two years ago been heeded. About a year after BJP swept Indore Municipal Corporation polls in July 2022, BJP corporator from Ward 11 Kamal Waghela had written to IMC asking the civic body to replace old & worn-out drinking water pipelines in Bhagirathpura, which falls in his ward. As IMC and the governing BJP in Madhya Pradesh came in for severe criticism following the outbreak of diarrhoea after sewage water contaminated drinking water in the area, Waghela wrote to MP CM Mohan Yadav Friday alleging that his request to replace water pipelines was put on the back burner by civic officials. Waghela, who opened a front against IMC officials, claimed he had been warning since 2023 about possibility of water getting contaminated and had also lodged a complaint on CM Helpline.

"I had demanded a new pipeline in Bhagirathpura. On my demand, an official file was created on Nov 12, 2024, but it was held back for seven months," he said in his letter to the CM. He said a tender was floated on July 30, 2025 after he approached mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava. "But the tendering process was not completed in the stipulated time," Waghela alleged, demanding action against officials responsible. The Ward 11 corporator mentioned that 40% of pipelines in his ward are old and an estimated Rs 2.3 crore is required to replace them. With CM Mohan Yadav removing IMC commissioner and suspending additional commissioner Friday, officials at the civic body did not respond to Waghela's allegations.