A laboratory test has confirmed that contaminated drinking water was the main reason behind a vomiting and diarrhoea outbreak in Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. The outbreak has so far killed at least nine people and affected more than 1,400 residents, officials said on Thursday.

The outbreak started in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore. This has raised serious concerns about the safety of the city’s water supply, especially because Indore has been ranked India’s cleanest city for the last eight years.

Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani, said that a laboratory report from a city medical college confirmed that the drinking water in Bhagirathpura was contaminated. According to the report, the contamination happened because of a leakage in a water supply pipeline. The information was shared with the media through news agency PTI.

Officials found that the main drinking water pipeline had a leak near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura. Shockingly, a toilet had been built above the leaking pipeline, which likely caused sewage to mix with the drinking water. This contaminated water was then supplied to nearby homes, leading to the spread of the disease.

Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Dubey said that the authorities are now checking the entire water supply pipeline in the area to see if there are any other leaks. After inspections, clean water was supplied to homes on Thursday. However, residents were advised to boil water before drinking as a safety measure. Water samples have also been collected and sent for further testing.

Dubey said the incident would serve as a lesson, and the government plans to introduce a standard operating procedure (SOP) across the state to prevent such water-related tragedies in the future.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government over the deaths. The NHRC said that local residents had been complaining about dirty and contaminated water for several days, but authorities failed to act in time.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav called the situation “emergency-like” and promised strict action against those responsible. He visited hospitals to check on patients and later held a high-level review meeting.

Health officials said that a survey of 1,714 households was conducted, covering 8,571 people. Around 338 people with mild symptoms were treated at home. In the last eight days, 272 patients were admitted to hospitals, with 201 still undergoing treatment, including 32 in ICUs.