The commission, chaired by former Madhya Pradesh High Court judge Sushil Kumar Gupta, found that the Indore Municipal Corporation failed to maintain a safe drinking water supply, leading to a December 2025 contamination that killed 22 residents.
Investigators traced a 72‑day delay between the Additional Commissioner Rohit Sisonia's ‘Discuss’ note on October 15, 2025, and the approval of a Rs 2.40‑crore pipeline contract on December 26, 2025, a lapse that coincided with the outbreak’s onset.
Engineers admitted that sewage pipelines ran dangerously close to drinking lines, with several crossings placing raw sewage above potable water, violating national safety standards and creating a conduit for fecal contamination.
Lab tests collected 52 private borewell samples on January 3, 2026: 50 tested positive for total coliform and 40 for E. coli; municipal samples taken on December 30, 2025, showed 54 out of 73 exceeding limits, with 39 faecal coliform readings.
One mother in Bhagirathpura, who lost her 58‑year‑old husband to the outbreak, said the water had tasted strange before the crisis, yet officials had dismissed her concerns as ‘unsubstantiated’.
The court will schedule a hearing on the corporation's accountability next week, and the High Court has ordered the municipal body to submit a remediation plan within 30 days.