'MLA Smelled Water, Refused To Drink': 1,000+ Fall Ill In Sushilpura As Sewage Mixes With Drinking Supply

Last Updated:April 04, 2026, 14:55 IST

A sewer line allegedly damaged during road construction a month ago has been leaking wastewater into the drinking water supply ever since.

Residents of Ward 45 in Sushilpura are grappling with a severe public health crisis. Sewage-contaminated drinking water over the past week has left more than 1,000 people unwell.

Children and the elderly have been the worst affected, with complaints of stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and fever reported in almost every household.

The streets tell the story before any resident does. Broken roads are filled with foul-smelling wastewater, making movement difficult.

Inside the homes, families cycle through illness — one recovering while another falls sick. And the tap, the one thing every household depends on, has become the source of the poison.

How It Started: A Road Dug, A Pipeline Broken

The issue began about a month ago during road construction in the area. An existing cement road was dug up, and during the process, a sewer line was allegedly damaged, leading to wastewater flowing through the streets and eventually mixing with the drinking water supply. The water pipeline in the area, residents note, was laid only three years ago.

Former Congress MLA Pratap Singh Khachariyawas put the question bluntly: “If the road was in good condition, why was it dug up? Damage to sewer and water lines due to such work has led to this crisis." He has warned of protests if the issue is not resolved soon.

Three Families. Three Stories Of The Same Nightmare

Pooran Mal Kumawat’s family has been unwell for days. “We have all been suffering from diarrhoea and weakness. My wife even had to take injections," he said.

Janki Saini’s three children are battling stomach pain and fever. “We are arranging water from outside," she said — an arrangement that costs money her family may not easily have.

Jagdish Sahu has already spent thousands. “My mother and I are unwell, and I had to take my son for treatment. We are buying water daily, which is adding to our expenses," he said.

Across Sushilpura, the arithmetic is the same: illness plus medical bills plus bottled water. For families with little margin, the crisis is not just physical — it is financial.

The MLA Who Wouldn’t Drink The Water

When Civil Lines MLA Gopal Sharma visited the area to assess the situation, angry residents surrounded him and demanded immediate action.

In a symbolic protest, some residents asked the MLA to drink the same water being supplied to their homes. Local reports suggest he refused.

He then assured them that officials have been directed to restore clean supply and that PHED and health department teams have been deployed.

More than 150 patients with similar symptoms have been treated at the nearby government dispensary in just three days, the dispensary’s in-charge Dr Anil Mehta confirmed. Private practitioners in the area have reported a parallel surge.

Residents say tanker supply remains inadequate despite assurances, and contaminated water continues to be used for non-drinking purposes — raising fears of the outbreak deepening further.

This Is Jaipur. It Has Happened Everywhere

Sushilpura is not an exception. It is a pattern.

Between January 2025 and January 2026, at least 5,500 people fell ill in 26 cities — including 16 state capitals — across 22 states and Union territories after consuming sewage-contaminated piped drinking water. At least 34 people died, Down To Earth reported.

Just months ago, in Indore — ranked India’s “cleanest city" for eight consecutive years — sewage mixing into drinking water killed at least 10 people and hospitalised hundreds. Residents had been warning authorities for months about foul-smelling tap water. Their complaints went unheeded.

Across cities, the cause has been strikingly similar: in almost every case, contamination was traced to sewage mixing with drinking water — often because ageing, corroded or poorly laid water pipelines run dangerously close to sewer lines, Down To Earth further stated.

In Sushilpura, the pipeline was three years old. The road construction was avoidable. The damage was foreseeable. And yet, here we are — a thousand people sick, children on drips, families buying water they cannot afford, and a politician who visited but would not drink.

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