Lok Sabha Question No. 3235 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-12
Subject: Contamination of Water in Urban Areas
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Kuldeep Indora

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3235 TO BE ANSWERED ON MARCH 12, 2026

## CONTAMINATION OF WATER IN URBAN AREAS

NO. 3235.  SHRI KULDEEP INDORA:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  cognizance  of  incidents  of  water contamination caused due to the old water supply pipelines and sewer lines being in close proximity in various areas including Haryana, Delhi and
- Indore and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether it is a fact that in many urban and semi-urban areas, decades-old drinking water pipelines run parallel to or through sewer lines, thereby increasing  the  risk  of  leakage  and  cross-contamination  and  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (c) whether any national audit/mapping has been conducted to identify such
- deteriorated networks and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the time-bound  action  plan and  financial provisions made  for  the replacement of old pipelines and separation of sewer and drinking water pipelines?

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)

(a) to (d):   Water and sanitation is a State subject; and repair of outdated pipelines,  drainage/sewage  system  is  the  responsibility  of  the  State Governments and concerned Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/Urban Development Authorities. Government of India supplements the efforts of the States  through  schematic  interventions/  advisories.  It  provides financial  and  technical  support  to  the  States  through  various  Mission/ Schemes such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)/ AMRUT 2.0.

As  informed  by  the  State  of  Madhya  Pradesh,  on  28.12.2025, incidents of vomiting and diarrhoea were reported in the Bhagirathpura area which falls under Ward No. 11, Zone-4, Assembly Constituency Indore. The State Government has informed that 22 deaths were reported due to acute diarrheal disease in this area. Total 459 persons were hospitalized. The State Government has provided ex-gratia financial assistance to the families  of  the  deceased  as  per  prevailing  State  norms.  Compensation amount of Rs. 2 lakhs were provided to dependents of each deceased. Medical   treatment   to  affected  persons  was  provided  free  of  cost  in

Government/ Private hospitals. The area has old pipelines dating 1997 and some  of  it  is  damaged.  Municipal  administration  has  identified  the  old stretches of pipeline in Bhagirathpura area and 9.5 km of pipelines has been laid before the incident. Thereafter, new contract for laying of 5.8 km pipeline has been awarded.

The  State  Government  has  also  informed  that  upon  receiving information of the incidents of vomiting and diarrhoea in Bhagirath Pura, Indore,  the  Indore  Municipal  Corporation  (IMC)  along  with  the  Health Department and Public Health Engineering Department initiated a joint and prompt response. First and foremost, all sick patients were attended to and  the  ones  who  were  serious,  were  hospitalized  in  super-specialty Medical College and Private hospital of repute. Not so sick were attended to by Health and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers with  door-to-door  survey  and  distribution  of  Oral  Rehydration  Solution (ORS) packets and Chlorine tablets for Water disinfection. Water Supply through  pipelines  and  borewells  were  completely  stopped  and  water tankers were forced into service. Samples were taken from multiple supply points  at  user  end  to  ascertain  the  type  of  contamination  and  sent  to National  Accreditation  Board  for  Testing  and  Calibration  Laboratories (NABL) accredited labs. Standard Operating Procedures have been issued by the State Government to Urban Local Bodies to avoid contamination of water.  The  "Swaccha  Jal  Abhiyan"  has  been  launched  in  the  state  of Madhya Pradesh from January 10, 2026 with the objective to ensure water security, water conservation and hearing of complains related to water.

The matter of drinking water contamination incident of Indore is sub judice vide Writ Petition no. 247 of 2026 and others in the Hon'ble High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore. Hon'ble High Court in their order dated 27.01.2026  appointed  Justice  Sushil  Kumar  Gupta,  former  Judge  of Madhya Pradesh High Court, a one-man commission of inquiry into  the issues  relating  to  water  contamination  in  Bhagirath  Pura,  Indore.  The terms of reference of the Commission include submission of report on the cause of contamination and provide its inputs on public health on matters such  as  number  of  actual  deaths  of  affected  residents  on  account  of contaminated  water,  nature  of  disease  reported,  adequacy  of  medical response and preventive measures, immediate steps required to ensure safe drinking water, long-term infrastructural and monitoring reforms, and identification and fixing responsibility upon the officers and officials found prima  facie  responsible  for  the  Bhagirathpura  water  contamination incident and suggest guidelines for compensation to affected residents, particularly vulnerable sections.

The  Delhi  Jal  Board  has  informed  that  it  has  taken  cognizance  of  the reports  of  water  contamination  in  Delhi.  Necessary  remedial  measures such as repair/replacement of the damaged pipelines, flushing of pipelines, chlorination of water supply and coordination with sewerage agencies are undertaken to prevent occurrence. In certain old and densely populated areas, water supply pipelines and sewer lines run parallel due to historical urban development. Delhi Jal Board carries out regular inspections, leak detection and repair works to minimize the risk of contamination. It has also  informed  that  the  work  of  preparation  of  Detailed  Project  Reports (DPRs) for water supply improvement and replacement of old pipelines in the West (04 nos. Assembly Constituencies) and South- West zone (09 nos. Assembly Constituencies) has been taken up by Delhi Jal Board. Further, for  the  remaining  zones  of  Delhi,  initial  preliminary  report  have  been prepared so far.

In Haryana, an incident was reported in a private colony in sector 7070A, Gurugram in December, 2025. The master supply of water is provided by Gurugram Municipal Development Authority (GMDA). After enquiry by the coloniser, the water storage tanks of individual house owners were found unclean and the same were cleaned and issue resolved.

Drinking water contamination in urban areas is a multi-factor issue and  is  generally  attributable  to  distribution  system  vulnerabilities  and interface  issues  with  sewerage  and  sanitation  infrastructure.  Drinking water  supplied  in  urban  areas  is  required  to  conform  to  BIS  IS  10500 standards; however, deterioration in quality may occur due to infrastructure-related, operational, environmental and maintenance factors  across  transmission,  storage  and  distribution  systems.  The  key reasons for contamination in drinking water supply includes leakages, pipe bursts and defective joints, cross-connections  with  Sewerage  and Drainage Systems, ageing infrastructure and corrosion, intermittent water supply  and  negative  pressure,  stagnation  and  prolonged  retention  of water,  poor  maintenance  of  storage  and  associated  infrastructure, inadequate sewerage and septage management, etc.

The Ministry of Housing Affairs (MoHUA) has published Manual on Water Supply and Treatment Systems (Drink from Tap) in March 2024 for reference  by  the  States/  ULBs  for  designing,  implementation,  drinking water quality and monitoring of the water supply projects. (https://mohua.gov.in/publication/manual-on-water-supplyandtreatment -systems---drink-from-tap---march-2024.php).

MoHUA  has  issued  an  advisory  "Strengthening  Water  Quality Monitoring in Cities through Community Participation" under AMRUT 2.0 in November, 2024 to all the States to formulate a Water Quality Monitoring strategy  at  the  State  or  City  level  and  to  strengthen  the  institutional capacity for citywide monitoring of drinking water quality in urban areas along with Digital Display Boards for water quality parameters for public information & awareness.

MoHUA has issued an advisory in January, 2026 to all the States to  carry  out  comprehensive  assessments  of  vulnerable  areas  &  ageing infrastructure and to identify the crossing of sewer lines in close proximity to water supply lines and to conduct digital mapping of the existing water and sewer network using geo-spatial database created under AMRUT/AMRUT 2.0 in order to prevent health hazards.

AMRUT/AMRUT  2.0  guidelines  allows  for  replacement  of  legacy infrastructure,  vulnerable  crossings  and  pressure-managed  systems  to reduce contamination risks as per priority of State. Further, AMRUT 2.0 Mission promotes 24x7 water supply with quality assurance, Drink from Tap (DfT) quality water in selected District Metered Areas (DMAs)/wards, online water quality monitoring, sensors and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition  (SCADA),  community  participation,  especially  Women  Self

Help Groups (SHGs), in water quality testing.

Under AMRUT, 1403 water supply projects worth ₹43,378.59 crore and 889 sewerage/ septage management projects worth ₹34,471.1 crore were taken up by the States/ Union Territories.  Under AMRUT 2.0, 3,531 water  supply  projects  worth  ₹1,19,670.51  crore  (inclu ding  Operation  & Maintenance  cost)  and  584  sewerage/  septage  management  projects worth ₹65,624.98 crore have been approved so far.

Through AMRUT/ AMRUT 2.0 and in convergence with the States, 246 lakh water tap connections in the urban areas have been provided so far, 182 lakh sewer connections (including households covered through Fecal Sludge and Septage Management) have been provided through AMRUT/ AMRUT 2.0 and in convergence in AMRUT Cities. 93,457.51 km of water pipeline  network  has  been  laid/  replaced  and  26,995.61  km  of  sewer network has been laid/ replaced.

Under  AMRUT,  258  water  supply  schemes  have  smart  monitoring systems such as SCADA system and 1,422 water supply projects under AMRUT 2.0 has provision for SCADA system. Mission advocates ease of getting connections to minimize illegal connections. Mission has provision of  ₹3,000  per  connection  to  enhance  last  mile  connectivity.  Mission advocated to use of smart elements, flow meters, pressure valves, etc. to strengthen  maintenance  systems,  digital  monitoring,  energy  efficiency, etc.

For improvement in service delivery, States have taken up DfT projects and States are encouraged to implement at least one DfT project in a DMA or ward within each AMRUT city. 407 projects with 1,153 DMAs benefitting 16.72 lakh Households have been approved in 348 ULBs under AMRUT 2.0.

Through AMRUT Mitra initiative, Women SHGs have been engaged in water quality testing, Operation & Maintenance support, bill distribution and awareness.

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