Food poisoning: 150 students of Palghar ashram schools still under observation

Nearly 150 students from ashram schools who suffered from food poisoning were still under observation at various hospitals in Maharashtra's Palghar district and their condition was stable, an official said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, as many as 250 students from 20 ashram schools (residential facilities for tribal pupils) in Dahanu taluka fell ill due to food poisoning and were rushed to nearby health facilities by their teachers for treatment.

They complained of health complications like nausea, vomiting, and giddiness within a couple of hours of having dinner sourced from a central kitchen at Kalamgaon on Monday, as per officials. Dahanu tribal development project officer Dr Satyam Gandhi told PTI on Wednesday morning that nearly 150 students were still under observation at various medical facilities while the others were discharged.

"No one is serious or severely ill," he said. The tribal development department authorities have been asked to collect the data of students still being treated at the health facilities, he said. "Samples of the food supplied to students in the ashram schools were being tested and only after the test reports, we will be able to say what triggered the complications," the official said.

District Collector Govind Bodke on Tuesday said after being informed about the incident, he, accompanied by senior officials of the district, visited health centers where students were admitted and also inspected the central kitchen from where food items were sourced. State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and police personnel collected the food samples and sent them to laboratories for testing, the collector informed.

He said the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) concerned will carry out an investigation into the incident, while the FDA and police will conduct their independent probes. The affected ashram schools were functioning under the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) and located in Dahanu, Palghar, Talasari, and Vasai talukas of the district, Resident Deputy Collector Subhash Bhagade said.