A six-month-old child, born after a decade of fervent prayers and vows, died within days after allegedly consuming contaminated water in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city, an incident that has deepened grief in the Bhagirathpura area amid a prolonged health crisis.
An eerie silence hung over an alley in the Marathi Mohalla of Bhagirathpura, where Avyan Sahu lived with his family. A routine act of diluting packaged milk with water reportedly turned fatal for the infant, plunging the family into unbearable sorrow.
The family has claimed that it refused to accept government compensation for Avyan’s death. The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased.
Residents alleged that as many as 15 people have died over the past year due to a vomiting-diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura, with Avyan being the youngest victim. However, the health department has not confirmed this figure, stating that only four deaths have occurred in the outbreak.
Speaking to PTI on Friday, Avyan’s grandmother, Krishna Sahu, said, "We have not taken any compensation from the state government so far. Our child is gone. Will the compensation bring him back to life? Money is not greater than a child." According to the family, Avyan died on December 29.
She said her daughter gave birth to Avyan after 10 years of prayers and vows.
"The entire family prayed for his birth and made a vow at Hussain Tekri Dargah. My prayers were answered, but I never imagined that the baby would leave us so soon," she said in tears.
Krishna Sahu said the child was healthy and had put on five kgs.
"He played in his mother's lap. One day, he suddenly started suffering from diarrhoea and, on a doctor's advice, we started with medicines at home. His condition, however, worsened, and he was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead," she said.
She added that due to insufficient breast milk, the infant was fed packaged milk and milk powder mixed with water drawn from a municipal tap. Sahu alleged that the water was contaminated and proved fatal for the child.
Anita Sen, a neighbour, said, "There is a one-month-old girl, a four-year-old child and a 10-year-old girl in my house. Now the government should ensure that no mother is robbed of a child due to contaminated water."
More than 1,400 people have been affected by vomiting and diarrhoea in Bhagirathpura over the past nine days. According to the health department, 272 patients had been admitted to hospitals in the area till Thursday, of whom 71 have been discharged. At least 32 patients currently hospitalised are undergoing treatment in intensive care units, it said.