150 Ashram School students fall sick after dinner, food poisoning suspected

Over 500 students in Palghar district suffered from suspected food poisoning after dinner from a central kitchen. About 150 were admitted for treatment.

PALGHAR: Over 500 students in various Ashram Schools in the Palghar district complained of nausea, vomiting and giddiness after their Monday dinner, due to suspected food poisoning from the food supplied by a central kitchen at Kambalgaon. Many of them were treated at rural hospitals and primary health centres in the district, and about 150 were admitted as indoor patients for treatment and observation. On being notified, the district administration started investigation and sent the food samples to a laboratory for testing, the reports of which are awaited.

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A central kitchen located in Kambalgaon in Palghar taluka provides breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner to around 15,000 students studying in ashram schools in Palghar, Dahanu, Vasai and Talasari talukas under a project of the tribal development department, which runs the ashram schools - residential schools in the state meant especially for tribal students. This kitchen had served chapati, rice, moong chilka dal and bottle gourd for dinner on Monday.

A few of the students of Rankol Ashram School in Dahanu taluka complained of stomach ache and vomiting in the early hours on Tuesday and were admitted to rural hospital, primary health centers and sub district hospital in Dahanu taluka.

Other students from ashram schools in Palghar, Talasari and Dahanu talukas were also hospitalised after complaining of similar symptoms, but most of them were discharged by evening. Overall, more than 150 students from ashram schools were admitted and treated at various government medical facilities.

Civil Surgeon, Palghar, Dr Ramdas Marad, who treated the children, said that all the admitted students are stable and none of them is seriously ill.