Karnataka: 23 students hospitalised after drinking lizard-infested milk in Belgavi

The education department, responsible for supplying milk to government schools under the ‘Skeerabhagya’ scheme, has initiated an inquiry into the incident.

As many as 23 students were hospitalised after consuming milk that contained a dead lizard in a government primary school in Belagavi on Thursday morning, according to the education department.

The education department has initiated an inquiry after a lizard was found in milk served to students at a government primary school in Belagavi. (Getty Images (Photo for representation))

Hukkeri block education officer (BEO) Prabhavati Patil, who visited the school, said, “As a precautionary measure, we rushed all the children who consumed the milk to the hospital at Sankeshwar. To prevent the students from panicking, we refrained from informing them about the reason for hospitalisation.”

The Ullagaddi Khanapur village school campus houses Kannada, Marathi, and Urdu primary schools, collectively catering to around 400 students. Milk is distributed to students around 11.30 in the morning, and on this particular day, a person serving milk discovered a dead lizard at the bottom of the vessel.

Teachers were alerted, and they quickly intervened, instructing students to stop drinking and collecting the milk glasses from those who had not consumed them. Out of more than 50 students, 23 had already consumed the contaminated milk and were subsequently hospitalised, Prabhavati Patil said.

“The children were transported to the hospital in two ambulances and a few private vehicles. Anxious parents were also present at the hospital, where authorities reassured them that the children were in good and normal condition,” the headmaster said.

The education department, responsible for supplying milk to government schools under the ‘Skeerabhagya’ scheme, has initiated an inquiry into the incident. “The agency that provided the milk has received a notice from the education department,” BEO Prabhavati said. “The unfortunate incident underscores the need for heightened vigilance in food safety measures within educational institutions,” she said