Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The judicial inquiry commission into the Bhagirathpura water contamination incident, which claimed the lives of at least 35 people, has held former additional commissioners Bhavya Mittal and Rohit Sisonia and executive engineer Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava primarily responsible for lapses.
The commission, headed by Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta, former judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, submitted its final report to the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The panel cleared three former Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) commissioners - present district collector Shivam Verma, Dilip Kumar Yadav and Pratibha Pal - along with former additional commissioner Abhilash Mishra.
The commission said it found no evidence of negligence or violation of duty by Yadav. He took charge as municipal commissioner on Sep 11, 2025, and took administrative and emergency steps after being informed about the contamination. It also noted that final approval of the tender was the responsibility of the additional commissioner and not the municipal commissioner.
Verma left the commissioner's post on Feb 9, 2025, before the technical bid for the concerned tender was opened. Therefore, he was not held responsible for any delay in the tender process. The commission also found no delay in laying water lines during the tenure of the other officers who were given a clean chit.
The commission found that after the Tender Committee approved the proposal, it should have been forwarded immediately for further approval. Instead, there was an unexplained delay of 10 days.
Accordingly, executive engineer Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and additional commissioner Bhavya Mittal (IAS), who processed the proposal, were held responsible for the delay. The commission also held former additional commissioner Rohit Sisonia responsible in a supervisory capacity.
According to the commission report, the estimated value of the tender was within the financial limit for which the then additional commissioner was the competent authority to accord final approval. The tender file, therefore, was not required to be placed before the municipal commissioner.
The power to grant final approval was vested in additional commissioner Rohit Sisonia. The commission said Yadav neither exercised administrative control nor possessed decision-making authority over the final approval of the tender or the delay in its processing and, therefore, could not be held responsible.
