Water crisis: Protesters block traffic at two intersections

Indore: Public anger over water scarcity spilled onto the streets on Sunday as residents, led by Congress corporators, staged demonstrations at two major intersections. The protests disrupted traffic, leaving commuters stranded in the afternoon heat.

At Palda Square, hundreds of residents from Wards 64 and 75, led by Congress corporator Kunal Solanki, blocked traffic from 10 am. Leader of opposition in IMC, Chintu Choukse, also joined the sit-in. Although protesters temporarily cleared a path for an ambulance, the blockade continued for several hours.

At Deendayal Upadhyay Square (Sukhlia Zone-5), Ward 27 corporator Raju Bhadauriya led an hour-long blockade where demonstrators held empty pots and chanted devotional hymns in protest.

According to local representatives, IMC has yet to lay Narmada water supply pipelines in Ward 75 and surrounding colonies. Without pipelines, these areas rely entirely on municipal water tankers, but the available fleet remains highly insufficient, they said. “Intense summer heat has completely dried up local borewells, eliminating sub-surface water alternatives” Solanki said.

The blockades were cleared only after senior police, administrative and IMC officials arrived at the sites. Municipal authorities assured the demonstrators that additional water tankers would be deployed in the affected wards immediately while a permanent pipeline infrastructure plan was being prepared.

Congress functionaries said that a city-wide protest has been scheduled for May 26 if IMC failed to increase tanker frequencies and resolve distribution bottlenecks.