IIT-Bombay sacks hostel caterer, month after 57 students fall ill

Apart from a fumigation process, repairs were made to broken tiles inside hostel 10’s kitchen, which led to water clogging. “This is being done to avoid any form of hygiene problems for the residents in the future.”

A month after 57 students fell ill after eating at their hostel mess at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), the institute on Monday said the caterer’s services will be discontinued from next week.

A month after 57 students fell ill after eating at their hostel mess at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), the institute on Monday said the caterer’s services will be discontinued from next week. (Satish Bate/HT File Photo)

On March 9, women students in hostel 10 of IIT-B started complaining, one after the other, of nausea and stomach ache after having dinner at their mess. By midnight, the hostel was informed about the issue. The next morning, all the students from the hostel who ate at the mess were requested to report to the institute’s hospital for a checkup and by evening, most of the 57 students who were admitted were discharged.

In a meeting at the institute on Monday, the students of hostel 10 were assured by the dean of student affairs that a new mess contractor would be appointed.

“The hostel is scheduled to reopen by April 15 but the same contractor will not continue working. Until we find a new contractor, hostel 10 residents will be accommodated in other hostel messes,” said a spokesperson for the institute.

While a report on the food samples from the night of March 9 is awaited, the institute has already implemented several changes to avoid such problems in the future. For starters, reports of an audit conducted by a specially-appointed food safety auditor in December 2018 and January 2019 has been shared by all hostel wardens for reference. “Another such audit is slated for the upcoming semester,” said a student representative of the institute.