Indore’s clean image masks a liquid waste crisis

The World Health Organization’s 2022 report states that 830,000 deaths worldwide occur annually due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. The recent outrage over deaths caused by contaminated water quality in Indore, Madhya Pradesh is yet another reminder that safe sanitation is key to ensuring safe water quality.

However, this is not the first instance of a diarrhoeal outbreak in cities connected to municipal water supply. A 2025 research article published in the Journal of Water and Health examined the frequency of illness due to contaminated water in Khurda (Odisha) and Paschim Midnapore (West Bengal). It found that 17 per cent of households receiving piped water supply reported illness. Surprisingly, only 5 per cent of households not connected to municipal supply faced similar illness; these households depended on rainwater harvesting, reused water, tanker supply, and bottled or canned water.

Households receiving municipal water raised concerns about foul-smelling water, leaking pipes, red-coloured water caused by high iron content, and water hardness. According to the study, municipal supply was contaminated with industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, and inadequate sanitation facilities. The findings raised questions about infrastructure maintenance and the state of sanitation in these two urban areas.

Such disease outbreaks are not restricted to urban areas alone. Rural regions are also prone to such outbreaks. A case of acute diarrhoeal disease was reported among residents of a village in Tripura, with symptoms including abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea, between December 31, 2022 and January 3, 2023. People using public drinking water sources were found to be affected. A June 2024 article published in the journal Heliyon showed that the public distribution system was compromised due to insanitary toilets in the village.

Indore needs to do more than fixing pipes

The slogan “Indore rahega number one (Indore will remain number one)” is splashed across walls and posters throughout the city. It is indeed a moment of celebration, as Indore has been declared the cleanest city in India for the eighth time. Regular sweeping, clean roads, and citizens following waste segregation rules using blue and green bins are seen across the city.

Asutosh Mandape, professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, explained that the city now needs to meet the international standards for managing solid waste.

However, researchers, experts, and even municipal authorities remain silent on managing liquid waste in the city. Indore has achieved over 80 per cent sewerage network coverage, according to officials from the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC). Officially, Indore generates around 367 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage, and its 10 sewage treatment plants (STP) have the capacity to treat all of it. IMC data claims that no untreated sewage is discharged into the city’s six major nullahs or rivers.

On the ground, however, the reality appears different. The city seems to have forgotten that it has two major rivers — the Kanh and the Saraswati — criss-crossing Indore. The rivers meet at Sanjay Setu. According to Amit Kumar Vatsa, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, and an expert in sewage management, it is deeply troubling that the city refers to these two rivers as drains. He notes that the area near the jhula bridge at their confluence beneath Sanjay Setu stinks persistently.

A senior IMC official said the city is moving towards 100 per cent sewerage coverage. IMC plans to stop sewage from entering major city drains, namely Azad Nagar, Bhamori, Tulsi Nagar, Piliyakhal, Palasia Nagar, by connecting surrounding areas to the primary sewerage network. This, the official said, would also clean the rivers, as these drains are linked to the Kanh or Saraswati rivers.

Rahul Banerjee, an independent water and sanitation expert from Indore, offers a different perspective on wastewater management in the city. “The rivers Kanh and Saraswati drain the city of Indore, and a considerable part of the sewage flows into these rivers. Over the past few years, massive programmes have been undertaken to tap these open drains and outfalls, numbering in the thousands,” he said.

The city is calculating wastewater only on the basis of the water it supplies; huge amounts of groundwater extraction and tanker supply are completely ignored. This, too, is adding to the wastewater, opines Banerjee.

He added that Indore once sourced its drinking water from these rivers. Today, the 9.46 km stretch of the Saraswati and 27.59 km of the Kanh within city limits is polluted to the brim, he claimed. “Virtually the entire 9 km stretch of the Kanh within the city is unfit for any human use,” Banerjee said.

The dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand levels of the river at three points within the city confirm this—the Kanh River is not suitable for any human consumption, let alone open bathing. Unabated wastewater also flows into the city’s large water bodies, such as Sirpur and Bilawali lakes. Such overflow of wastewater can contaminate the water supply if the pipes are old and have leached.

A joint committee report submitted to the National Green Tribunal in August 2023 clearly stated that the figure of 367.8 MLD cited by the IMC for sewage generation is completely faulty. The committee noted that IMC did not take into account 910 illegal colonies in this calculation. IMC, however, argued that all illegal colonies have been sewered and also claims that 730 major nullahs in the city have been tapped. The committee counters that if all illegal colonies were sewered and all drains tapped, the rivers in the city should not be polluted.

The National Buildings Organisation mentioned that, according to Census 2011, the slum population in Indore is 590,257, accounting for 29.60 per cent of the city’s total population. IMC stated that these slum populations have been provided with water connections and toilets, and claimed that the toilets are connected to sewer lines, with no sewage flowing into the Kanh River. However, residents of these slums report that toilets are frequently choked, forcing them to resort to open defecation.

A 2025 study published in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment clearly outlined the causes of sewage intrusion into domestic water supply systems and the resulting health impacts. The study emphasised the urgent need for integrated water resource management.

The journal article called for solutions at the technical, policy, and regulatory levels. It underscores the interdependence of water, sanitation, and ecological health, which is rarely addressed due to the weak enforcement of the regulatory framework. Experts note that new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and smart systems like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and Geographic Information Systems can support water conservation measures. Programmes such as the Jal Jeevan Mission and AMRUT are increasingly adopting these technologies in both rural and urban areas to track water flow and quality.

However, the cost of such systems, staff capacity, energy requirements, and the integration of these technologies into existing infrastructure require careful thought. Cities need to prioritise funding for these advanced tools and techniques. Equally important are community awareness, the involvement of citizen scientists, and the public availability of monitoring reports.