Madhya Pradesh Bets On Robotics, GIS Mapping To Fix Its Water Problem After Indore Deaths

After being rocked by Indore deaths linked to contamination of water, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced a major overhaul in its drinking water monitoring system.

The government has announced it will put emphasis on weak detection and contamination control amid recent reports of the supply of polluted water.

This is part of the Madhya Pradesh government's 'Swachh Jal Abhiyan’, with chief minister Mohan Yadav announcing that the state will implement robotic technology as well as GIS mapping to monitor underwater pipelines and pinpoint key areas where sewage and drinking water supplies run in close quarters.

This renewed effort to improve water supply comes in the wake of the Bhagirathpura contamination of Indore that led to the deaths of eight people.

As part of the overhaul, robots will be deployed to closely monitor pipeline networks and flag any potential structural breaches. The robots can also send real-time data from below ground, in what would be a first in the history of the state's civic networks.

The measures also include cleaning of all treatment plants and overhead storage tanks to ensure cleanliness before the summer demand creeps in.

While the Madhya Pradesh government has announced sweeping reforms to how drinking water is supplied and distributed throughout the state, Indore's administration is facing a deadline to supply clean drinking water within three days.

“Thirty percent work on laying the new pipelines has been completed. Within three days, a clean drinking water supply will begin (in Bhagirathpura), after we are one hundred percent certain through sampling of water. A system of checking all 108 water tankers in Indore would soon come up," State Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said.

The government said the implementation of the new system is set to strengthen the oversight and security around drinking water supply and prevent the repeat of the Indore debacle.