46 students take ill after breakfast at Palike school

January 13, 2012

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Bangalore, January 13: Coming to school on an empty stomach proved dangerous for 46 students of BBMP Girls’ High School, Mathikere, on Thursday morning as they took ill after having the classroom breakfast supplied by Iskcon.

The girls — students of Class VIII and X — ate rice and ‘majjige huli’ (buttermilk curry) around 9.15 am, shortly after they turned up for special classes. Although many more girls attended school, the “hot, nutritious, and freshly cooked” food was served only to those who could not have breakfast at home.

Many of them are from Abbigere and Singapura, localities as far as 15 km from the school, the head master, H M Muralidhar said.

The girls first vomited and felt giddy before experiencing exhaustion. Then, most of them collapsed, panicking their teachers who called the parents before rushing them to the K C General Hospital around 12.30 pm.

Teachers say not all students who had the breakfast complained of food poisoning right away. The panic button was pressed first by students of Class VIII as their condition worsened around 10 am. The school authorities, however, thought the matter was not serious. They acted only when students of Class X showed similar symptoms two hours later.

Upon reaching the hospital around 12.45 pm, the students were given antiemetics (drugs for vomiting and nausea) and antacids.

But the condition of 29 students was more serious and they had to be administered IV fluids, Dr R L Chandra Prabha, Medical Superintendent, K C General Hospital, said. The rest were treated as outpatients and discharged after a while.

According to Dr Lakshmipathi S R, Senior Specialist, Paediatrics, all students had “gastric irritability,” complaining of pain in the abdomen. Dr Mallikarjunaiah, another paediatrician at the hospital, said the students had vomiting sensation.

Barring three, all the students were discharged after a few hours. The condition of three girls — Shobha, Roopa, and Nethravathi — is said to be stable, but they will be kept under observation for a day.

Roopa, a student of Class X, already has an infection in her upper lip. Hence, when she ate the food, her condition deteriorated fast.

Shobha, another Class X student, said she felt very weak. Nethravathi, a Class VIII student, was discharged. But had to be admitted again when her condition worsened at 6 pm.

Causes for the mayhem?

Teachers say the utensils used for storing the food were probably not cleaned properly. Students are served food in plates they bring from home.

But the cookware brought by Iskcon might not have been maintained properly.

Doctors say the contamination might have happened because of either the food or water.

But, Dr Mallikarjunaiah thinks food, rather than water, might have been contaminated. The chances of it happening during handling are less.

“Had the food been contaminated while handling, not so many students would have been affected,” he said.

The BBMP Chief Medical Officer, Dr K E Manjula, said the food samples had been sent to the laboratory for chemical analysis.

Iskcon Clarifies

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has issued a clarification stating that the food has been supplied from the HK Hill Kitchen and the same food has been supplied to about 85,000 children on Thursday and none of the other children had reported any symptoms.

They stated that the food samples have been collected from the school and sent to a third party National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories .

“The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been implementing the mid-day meal programme for the past 11 years without any untoward incident, and maintains very high quality standards in all its kitchens. The HK Hill is ISO 22000:2005 certified and adheres to all the conditions thereunder.

We have traced the batch of the food that was supplied to this school; the same batch has been supplied to over 20 schools on the same route. None of the other schools have complained or reported any problems with respect to the food supplied today including the immediately preceding school (Government Higher Primary School, Gokula) and the immediately succeeding school (M S Ramaiah High School). Hence it appears that the problem is local; however, we are further investigating the same,” ISKCON?PRO Bhara- tha­rashabha Das stated.

Das also said that they were considering the possibility of water contamination at the school or the food being served by some, who had not washed their hands, before serving. “We wash the vessels ourselves and they are sterilised, so there can be no question of the vessel being contaminated either, but sometimes if the teacher is not present, then someone else might serve and not observe cleanliness,” Das explained.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka State?Commission for?Protection of Child Rights has taken suo motu cognisance and registered a complaint.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

Kota, Feb 26: At least 24 people died and four others sustained injuries as a private bus carrying a wedding party fell into a river on Kota–Dausa highway in Bundi district on Wednesday morning, police said.

The wedding party with 28 persons on board was headed to Sawai Madhopur from Kota early morning when the driver apparently lost balance of the bus while traversing a bridge near Papdi village under Lekhari police station limits, Lakheri Sub-Inspector Rajendra Kumar said.

The bus, subsequently, plunged into Mej river from the bridge that had no wall or railing, Kumar said.

Thirteen people died on the spot while 10 others succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital, he added.

The deaths include 11 men, 10 women and three children.

The injured were rushed to Lekhari government hospital from where the critically injured are being referred to a government hospital in Kota, the SI further said.

Most of the injured people were rescued with the help of locals in the village, he added.

Mej river is a tributary of the Chambal river in Rajasthan.

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News Network
July 5,2020

Bhubaneswar, Jul 5: Odisha Police have arrested five persons including groom for gross negligence and violation of COVID-19 guidelines during his marriage procession in Berhampur.

"A case has been registered for violation of COVID-19 guidelines for organising a marriage procession with more than 50 guests in the premises of a hotel. They disregarded the compulsory use of mask and flouted social distancing norms," DIG Central Zone Satyabrata Bhoi said.

The incident happened on July 2.
"The case has been registered at Gopalpur PS under section 188/269/270 IPC, R/W Sec- 3 Epidemic Disease Act, and 34 IPC. Two vehicles used in the procession have also been seized. the arrested persons will be produced in the court," he added.

The District Collector has sealed the hotel for violating the COVID-19 norms.

Following the incident, the Chief Minister's office tweeted: "Odisha is in a crucial phase in the fight against COVID-19, hence, it is very essential that we all obey guidelines and regulations issued by State Government to contain the spread of COVID-19. Violation of the same would lead to strong action." 

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Amaravati, Jul 31: Nine people have died after allegedly consuming sanitiser in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh today, the police said.

Prakasam district Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal said the people had been consuming sanitiser for the past few days, mixing it with water and soft drinks.

"We are also investigating whether they laced the sanitiser with any other toxic substances," the official said.

"Their family members say these people have been consuming sanitiser for the past ten days. We are sending the sanitiser stocks, being sold in the area, for examination," he added.

Kurichedu in Prakasam district has been under lockdown due to rise in coronavirus cases and hence, liquor shops have also been shut since the past few days.

Habitual drinkers were said to be consuming sanitisers that have alcohol content, apart from illicitly distilled arrack.

The police said two beggars near a temple were the first to fall victim on Thursday night. While one of them was found dead at the spot, another died in the government hospital in Darsi town, they said.

A third person was also taken to the Darsi hospital late on Thursday night after he fell unconscious but he was declared brought dead. Six others who fell ill after allegedly consuming sanitiser, died this morning.

Others who fell ill after consuming sanitiser are undergoing treatment at their residences in the village, the police added.

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