Deoria (UP), Aug 7: A 15-year-old student, who was among the several children hospitalised here two days ago after food poisoning at a state-run school, died in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur on Wednesday, officials said.
Around 80 students from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Ashram School in Mehroona village had fallen ill with symptoms of stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea after eating the school meal, and were hospitalised on Monday.
Currently, 61 students are hospitalised in Deoria Medical College, according to the officials.
District Magistrate Divya Mittal expressed deep sorrow over this incident.
"All the students admitted for treatment at Deoria Medical College are healthy and they will be discharged from today," Mittal said.
Ashram schools, which provide residential-based free education to meritorious students from financially weaker sections of society, are being run by the Social Welfare Department of the state. Currently, 94 such schools are functional in the state, according to an official website.
The district administration has initiated processes for lodging an FIR with the police, starting a magisterial probe over the incident and cancelled the licence of the mess contractor.
"A student receiving treatment at Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur has passed away this Wednesday morning. The deceased student, Shivam Yadav, son of Sadanand Yadav, aged 15, was a resident of Bhaisiya Ramnagar, Farenda Tehsil, Maharajganj district," Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Rajesh Jha said.
"Following the food poisoning incident on August 5, his condition deteriorated, and he was admitted to Maharshi Deoraha Baba Medical College, Deoria. Initially, his health was stable, but on the afternoon of August 6, his condition worsened with a sudden drop in blood pressure, leading to his admission to the ICU," Jha said.
He said despite efforts, there was no significant improvement in his health. Consequently, for better treatment, the medical college administration transferred him to BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, on Tuesday evening around 4 pm using an advanced life-saving ambulance.
At the BRD Medical College, Shivam was placed on a ventilator for treatment, the CMO said.
"To ensure coordinated efforts for his treatment, the district administration sent Additional CMO Dr Surendra Chaudhary to BRD Medical College. Unfortunately, Shivam Yadav passed away on the morning of Wednesday, August 7," he added.
According to an official statement, the district administration has initiated action against erring mess service providers in connection with the incident.
A complaint has been given by District Social Welfare Officer Jaiswar Lal Bahadur to register an FIR under relevant sections at the local Bariyarpur police station against mess contractor Rajesh Gupta, it said.
The contract to operate the mess has also been cancelled and instructions have been given to invite fresh tenders for operating the mess, it said.
"Apart from this, an order has been given for magisterial inquiry of the case. Strict action will be ensured on receipt of the investigation report," the statement added.
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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
