Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav on Friday strongly rejected allegations made by the Congress regarding the quality of drinking water in the city, calling the claims misleading and politically motivated.
Addressing the media, Bhargav questioned why the Congress had allegedly withheld the water testing report for nearly three months.
According to the Mayor, water samples were collected on February 5 and 6, while the test report was prepared by February 13.
“If only 240 locations were sampled, then on what basis is Congress claiming that 90 percent of the city’s water is ‘poisonous’?” Bhargav asked.
Dismissing the report as “a bundle of lies,” the mayor alleged that the sampling process failed to follow prescribed standards.
He claimed that municipal officials were not involved during the collection of samples and further questioned the use of plastic bottles for collecting water samples, stating that such containers were not suitable for scientific testing.
Bhargav also raised concerns over the decision to conduct the testing at a laboratory in Noida despite the availability of testing facilities in Indore.
He alleged that the entire exercise was outsourced by the Congress party and carried out according to its own terms and procedures.
Calling the controversy an attempt to tarnish Indore’s image, the mayor accused the Congress of engaging in “petty politics.”
He argued that if the opposition party genuinely believed the city’s water supply was unsafe, it should have immediately informed the Indore Municipal Corporation so that urgent testing and corrective action could have been initiated.
Meanwhile, the mayor announced that the Indore Municipal Corporation would conduct fresh testing of water samples from the same locations mentioned in the report.
He said the move was aimed at verifying the allegations and ensuring that residents continue to receive safe drinking water.
