43 Students From Eklavya Model Residential School in Gujarat Fall Sick After Eating Midday Meal

New Delhi: In an incident of possible food or water poisoning, 43 students from a school in Gujarat’s Banaskantha were admitted to the general hospital in Palanpur, as they fell ill after eating midday meal. The students were staying at the hostel of the Eklavya Model Residential School in Jagana village, where the incident took place.

According to epidemic officer Dr Bharmal Patel, district health officials came to know about the incident when 10 girl students from the school were first taken to the local Primary Health Centre (PHC) when they complained of diarrhoea and vomiting around 5:30 pm on Monday (January 19), reported Indian Express.

As more students fell ill and got admitted for similar complaints, the number of ailing children increased to 43 by Tuesday (January 20) – 38 female and five male students – and are currently undergoing treatment.

Authorities said that Gujarat Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) has taken samples of the food and water from the hostel premises while the health department took samples from the students for testing, with the entire matter being probed.

The incident in Gujarat comes days after deaths in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore from drinking water contamination has put the spotlight on water management failures.

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