36 hospitalised in Mathura after having food made of buckwheat flour

Mathura (UP): Thirty-six people were taken ill at different places here after consuming food items prepared from poor quality buckwheat flour used during fasting in Navratri, officials said on Wednesday.

With nine-day fasting for 'Chaitra Navratri' beginning on Tuesday, several people who consumed 'puris' and 'pakodis' made of 'kutu atta' complained of vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea and were admitted to different hospitals, they said.

According to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ajay Kumar Verma, so far 36 people have been admitted to different hospitals in the district.

District Magistrate Shailendra Kumar Singh said 14 persons were undergoing treatment in the district hospital.

Information is being gathered from other places as well to find out if someone else fell ill for the same reason, the DM said after visiting the district hospital.

On Tuesday, we got information that some people in the district's Vikas Nagar, Mahendra Nagar and Dwarikesh Nagar areas complained of health problems after consuming food items prepared from buckwheat flour purchased from a shopkeeper and they were admitted to the government hospital.

Their treatment is underway and they are now out of danger, the DM said.

The DM said it seemed that the quality of the flour consumed by the hospitalised persons was poor and had become poisonous.

'We will take strictest legal action against all such shopkeepers. In the case of Dwarikesh Nagar, a case is being registered against the shopkeeper from where the flour was purchased,' he said.

CMO Verma said 36 people so far have been admitted to different hospitals in the district.

It has come to light that those who were taken ill in Mahendra Nagar had bought flour from the same shopkeeper in the Kishi Mandi market from where the people of Vikas Nagar had made their purchases.

Nine people in Ading village of Govardhan area are undergoing treatment in a private hospital and six others from Bati village have been admitted to the Joint District Hospital in Vrindavan, the CMO said, adding that some others are being treated in private hospitals. The condition of all those admitted was improving, he said.

The DM said health department teams have been sent to all such places to provide necessary treatment.

Apart from this, the investigation team of the Food and Drug Department has also been asked to collect samples of these items and send them for testing, he said. PTI COR SAB RPA