Indore Water Deaths: High Court Slams Govt Over 'Verbal Autopsy' Report

• Madhya Pradesh High Court strongly criticized the state government's audit report on 23 deaths from contaminated water in Indore's Bhagirathpura.
• The court questioned the term 'verbal autopsy' used in the report, asking if it's a recognized medical term or government-coined.
• Verbal autopsy is a WHO-recognized public health method for determining causes of death where traditional post-mortems are not possible, relying on interviews with family members.
• The High Court found the Health Department's report vague, inadequate, and lacking reasoning, demanding more concrete documents.
• The crisis began on December 29 due to sewer water mixing with drinking water from a Narmada pipeline leak, leading to multiple deaths and raising questions about civic negligence.

Why It Matters: High Court reprimands MP government for a 'misleading' report on Indore water deaths, questioning 'verbal autopsy'.