Mid day meal: Dead lizard found in beans, 35 children sick

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Lunch: In West Bengal’s Bankura on Friday (May 26), 35 children fell ill after eating midday meal. A dead lizard is found in the grain. This midday meal was served at the Hotgram Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) center in Indapur Block, Bankura. Around 30 to 35 children complained of vomiting and severe stomach pain after consuming food at the Hotgram ICDS center on Friday, sources said. The children were admitted to a local government hospital. After which he was taken to Bankura Sammila Medical College Hospital for treatment.

A lizard was found in the pot

Meanwhile, the villagers checked the food utensils at the ICDS center. In which he saw a dead lizard floating in a pot of dal given to children. Children started vomiting quickly after eating food. Bapi Pramanik, a resident of Hotgram said, “My brother’s son had mid-day meal from Hotgram ICDS but fell ill soon after. We got scared when she started vomiting. After this we went and found that there was a dead lizard in the food served to the children.

Surrounded by villagers

 

The people of the village surrounded the ICDS center. To which the ICDS staff at the center denied responsibility saying that they were not aware of the condition of the food being served. Also, a local of the village said that the distribution of mid-day meal was stopped after some time.

Show cause notice

On the incident, Additional District Magistrate Arindam Biswas said on Saturday (May 27) that 30 children were admitted to the district hospital after consuming contaminated food. It was an unfortunate incident. Initially we heard that a 3-year-old child who had taken food from the Hotgram ICDS center fell ill. A dead lizard was reported to the CDP in the daal served. He said that a show cause notice has been sent to the person responsible for the ICDS centre. Biswas assured that all necessary administrative action will be taken against those responsible.

The children were discharged from the hospital

Doctor Saptarshi Chatterjee of Bankura Sammilani Hospital said that after admission to the hospital, we kept those children under observation for hours. Those children showed no signs of deterioration. Currently the children have been discharged from the hospital. According to locals, government schools remain closed due to summer vacation. However, there is provision of mid-day meal for around 60 children at Hathgram ICDS center in Indpur block.