Subscribe
Contaminated tap water has been making urban India sick across metros, state capitals and smaller cities alike. Between January 2025 and January 7, 2026, at least 5,500 people fell ill in 26 cities, including 16 state capitals, across 22 states and Union territories after consuming sewage-contaminated piped drinking water. At least 34 people died.
Diarrhoea was the most commonly reported illness, followed by typhoid, hepatitis and prolonged fever, according to media reports and official statements from affected states.
Across cities, the cause has been strikingly similar. In almost every case, contamination was traced to sewage mixing with drinking water — often because ageing, corroded or poorly laid water pipelines run dangerously close to sewer lines. Any leak or drop in pressure allows sewage to seep directly into household connections.
In a majority of cases, decades-old pipelines were identified as the primary cause. Many Indian cities continue to rely on water distribution networks laid more than 40 years ago. In Delhi, for instance, around 18 per cent of water pipes are over 30 years old, according to a report by the Delhi Jal Board. Cracks in these pipes — often laid alongside or below sewer lines — create repeated contamination risks.
Water contamination outbreaks in India are often associated with the monsoon months, when flooding and overflowing drains increase the risk of sewage ingress. But a review of at least 34 reported incidents over the past year shows that sewage-contaminated piped water is no longer a seasonal phenomenon.
Cases were reported across all months and seasons.
In the span of just a month — between December 2025 and January 7, 2026 — at least 19 people died and more than 3,500 fell ill, largely after consuming contaminated tap water.
During this short period, at least 11 incidents of piped water contamination were reported from cities across the country, including Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Guwahati (Assam), Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Gurugram (Haryana). These included nine state capitals, underlining the fragile and ageing foundations of India’s urban drinking water infrastructure.
While such incidents have occurred throughout the year, the outbreak in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, starkly highlighted the risks. On December 31, 2025, residents of Bhagirathpura fell ill after drinking tap water. By January 6, 2026, at least 17 people had died and more than 200 were hospitalised with diarrhoeal illness.
Official statements cited by the media confirmed what residents feared; Sewage had entered drinking water pipelines due to damaged and leaking water pipes. But Indore was not an isolated case.
In Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s capital, more than 150 children were admitted to hospital with typhoid in early January after consuming contaminated water. In Bengaluru, India’s technology hub, at least 30 households in KSFC Layout, Lingarajapuram, reported diarrhoea and stomach infections on January 4, 2026.
Similar incidents were reported from at least six other cities during the same month.
In Patna’s Kankarbagh Housing Colony, residents say a crisis similar to Indore’s is unfolding. Tap water in several blocks is reportedly so polluted that it causes itching on contact and cannot be used even for bathing or washing clothes. Locals blame burst pipelines laid alongside sewage drains, many of them decades old. Despite repeated complaints, they say the municipal corporation has carried out only temporary repairs, allowing the problem to recur.
In Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, residents of the Kachna Housing Board area have been receiving foul-smelling and visibly polluted tap water for more than a month, with around 100 people reporting illness. In Ranchi, Jharkhand’s capital, civic officials have reportedly identified more than 300 locations with damaged or broken pipelines, increasing the risk of sewage entering the water supply during distribution.
Even Gurugram, a city known for high-rise apartments and private water systems in the Delhi-NCR region, was not spared. In early December, residents of Sector 70A reported diarrhoea and gastrointestinal illness after drinking tap water. Around 60 to 70 people were affected, and at least 10 required hospitalisation.
In urban India, municipal corporations and urban local bodies are legally responsible for the supply, quality and safety of drinking water. State-level agencies — including public health engineering departments, water supply boards and urban development departments — design, fund and often operate bulk water and distribution networks.
Health surveillance falls under state health departments, while outbreak detection is guided by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
At the national level, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs oversees urban water infrastructure through programmes such as AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0, while drinking water quality standards are set by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Yet the repeated outbreaks suggest that governance remains largely reactive, with interventions triggered only after people fall ill. These recurring incidents point to a systemic failure of urban water governance rather than isolated lapses, raising concerns about the violation of the basic right to safe drinking water.
Safe drinking water and sanitation are recognised by the United Nations as fundamental human rights, essential for health, dignity and wellbeing.
Despite years of investment and ambitious targets under urban water missions, safe piped drinking water remains elusive for millions of city residents.
The government launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 on October 1, 2021 with the stated aim of creating water-secure cities. As part of this, the Pey Jal Survekshan was introduced as a competitive assessment to evaluate cities on water quality, quantity and coverage.
According to government data, 46 of the 485 cities surveyed under AMRUT reported providing 100 per cent clean water to residents. This means that, as of February 29, 2024, fewer than 10 per cent of surveyed cities met that benchmark.
The Economic Survey 2023-24 projects that more than 40 per cent of India’s population will live in cities by 2030, intensifying pressure on ageing urban services, including water networks.
There are, however, examples of what is possible. The coastal city of Puri in Odisha has emerged as a rare success story. Its “Drink from Tap” mission delivers round-the-clock potable water that meets national standards, supported by upgraded infrastructure, continuous monitoring and community participation.
Without similar political will and sustained investment elsewhere, outbreaks of waterborne disease — and even deaths from something as basic as drinking a glass of water — may continue to be a grim reality in India’s cities.