Twenty new cases of diarrhoea linked to contaminated drinking water were detected during the screening of more than 9,000 persons in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, PTI reported.

Health teams examined 9,416 persons from 2,354 households in Bhagirathpura, the ground zero of the infection, officials said.

A total of 142 persons are hospitalised due to the outbreak, including 11 in intensive care units.

More than 1,400 persons had fallen ill with symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration in the Bhagirathpura area, with cases being first reported on December 24. The authorities had earlier said that residents of the area had complained that the water supplied to them had an unusual smell.

On Friday, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said that he had received information about 10 deaths due to contaminated water. However, residents of the area have claimed that 14 persons, including an infant, died.

Chief Medical and Health Officer Madhav Prasad Hasani on Thursday said that laboratory reports from a city medical college had confirmed that the drinking water in the locality had been contaminated due to a pipeline leakage.

The authorities had earlier said that a leakage was found in the main water supply pipeline in the area above which a toilet had been constructed, and that the drinking water may have been contaminated as a result.

On Friday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav held a review meeting and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those who died.

The same day, the Madhya Pradesh government removed Indore’s municipal commissioner and suspended two other officials in connection with the outbreak.

SDM suspended after Congress protest

Meanwhile, Ujjain division Revenue Commissioner Ashish Singh suspended a sub-divisional magistrate on charges of negligence, indifference and irregularities in the discharge of official duties, PTI reported.

Officials said that the SDM had issued an order on Saturday to deploy subordinate revenue officers to maintain law and order in connection with a Congress protest in Dewas.

However, a portion of the Congress memorandum submitted during the protest was copied verbatim into the official order.

“This amounts to serious negligence,” PTI quoted an unidentified official as saying.

The Congress memorandum had criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government, saying the use of an objectionable word by state Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya reflected “inhumanity and authoritarianism”, PTI reported.

Vijayvargiya had triggered a controversy on December 31 after using the word “ghanta” on camera when asked about the water contamination crisis. In common parlance, the term is understood to mean “nonsense”.