Opposition leader Mimrot presses Indore Mayor Bhargava on cleanliness rank, pollution, Bhagirathpura deaths

Leader of the Opposition in the Indore Municipal Corporation Sonila Mimrot has questioned Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava on three issues: the fall in the city's cleanliness ranking, the rise in air pollution after Diwali, and the deaths caused by contaminated water in Bhagirathpura. Mimrot questioned the corporation's working and demanded that political and administrative accountability be fixed.

She said Indore's identity was built on cleanliness, so a review of the arrangements had become necessary given the present situation. She said Indore, which was the country's cleanest city eight times in a row, had failed to retain its old standing this time. The Indore-Depalpur pairing has been placed second in the mentor-mentee category, but according to Mimrot, presenting this as Indore's own second rank amounts to misleading the public.

She also described the mayor's statement on the post-Diwali rise in air pollution as irresponsible. Mimrot said that raising concern over pollution did not mean opposing the Diwali festivities. It was a question of public health and the environment. In her view, the mayor should have put forward a concrete action plan to curb pollution at such a time. Questions on public health should not be tied to the joys of the festival, she said.

On the deaths from contaminated water in Bhagirathpura and the large number of people who fell ill, Mimrot raised serious questions about the corporation's water supply system. She said major shortcomings had emerged in the maintenance of drinking water pipelines, the protection of sewage and water lines, timely action on complaints, and the supervision of officials. She said responsibility could not be avoided by blaming the incident on a few employees or officials. The accountability of the political and administrative leadership must also be fixed, she said.

She also questioned the spending on cleanliness. According to Mimrot, the municipal corporation is spending crores of rupees, yet piles of garbage, filth, clogged drains and haphazard cleaning persist in many wards.

Mimrot has made six demands of the municipal corporation. The first is an independent review of the fall in Indore's cleanliness ranking. The second is that a ward-wise account of cleanliness spending over the past three years be made public. The third is a time-bound action plan to curb air pollution. The fourth is that accountability of the responsible officials and the administrative leadership be fixed in the Bhagirathpura case. The fifth is a technical audit of the drinking water pipelines and sewage system across the city. The sixth is a joint cleanliness inspection of all 85 wards, taking opposition councillors along.