Indore, crowned India's cleanest city for 8 consecutive years, killed 15+ residents when someone built a police toilet directly on top of the main drinking water pipeline — without a septic tank. The CAG had warned about this exact problem years earlier, but nobody reads audit reports in a city busy polishing trophies.
In what might be the most ironic public health disaster in Indian history, Indore — the poster child of Swachh Bharat with seven-star garbage-free certification and carbon credits to match — poisoned its own residents when sewage from a police outpost toilet seeped into the main drinking water pipeline at Bhagirathpura. The toilet had been helpfully constructed directly above the pipeline, without the minor inconvenience of a septic tank. At least 15 people died including a 6-month-old infant, and over 2,000 fell ill with severe diarrhea. A 2019 CAG audit had already flagged that Indore loses 65% of its water supply and had 4,481 unfit drinking water samples — but the city was too busy collecting cleanliness awards to notice. The tragedy earned India's cleanest city a new distinction: proving you can sweep the streets spotless while literally poisoning the plumbing.