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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday, 23 July took note of the proceedings before the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the Indore water contamination case and sought responses on issues related to drinking water supply and quality across the state.

The matter stems from the Bhagirathpura drinking water contamination tragedy in Indore, in which at least 22 people died and hundreds fell ill in December 2025.

According to an NGT statement, the tribunal's Bhopal-based Central Zone bench, comprising judicial member Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi, passed the order while hearing two applications raising concerns over drinking water contamination in Indore and other parts of Madhya Pradesh.

The tribunal noted that issues relating to drinking water supply in Indore are already under consideration before the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court through pending writ petitions.

It also took note of the high court's decision to appoint a judicial commission to identify officials prima facie responsible for the Bhagirathpura contamination incident.

The NGT referred to the high court's directions aimed at ensuring safe drinking water, including regular monitoring and testing of water quality, maintaining adequate chlorine levels, replacing old and damaged pipelines, cleaning and disinfecting water storage facilities, identifying leakages and sewage contamination points, strengthening sewerage infrastructure, and fixing accountability for lapses in the operation and maintenance of water supply systems.

Observing that these issues were already being examined by the judicial commission and that the matter was sub judice before the high court, the tribunal confined its proceedings to the broader concerns raised in the applications.

During the hearing, counsel for the applicants argued that while the high court proceedings were focused on Indore, the applications before the NGT highlighted larger issues relating to drinking water supply and contamination across Madhya Pradesh.

Counsel for the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board informed the tribunal that its report had already been filed. The NGT directed that a copy of the report be shared with the opposite parties via email and allowed them three weeks to file their responses, if any.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on 16 September.

With PTI inputs