Bihar: Reports of 23 children dead, many hospitalized after school lunch in Chhapra, Second incident - One dead in Gaya

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bihar: Reports of 24 children dead, many hospitalized after school lunch in Chhapra, Second incident - One dead in Gaya

Re: Bihar: Reports of 24 children dead, many hospitalized after school lunch in Chhapra, Second incident - One dead in Gaya

Forensic report confirms poisonous pesticide in Bihar midday meal
PTI | Jul 20, 2013, 07.30 PM IST

PATNA: A forensic report on Saturday confirmed the presence of poisonous pesticide in the midday meal served to the students of the school in Chhapra where 23 children died after taking the contaminated food.

The Forensic Science Laboratory report found monocrotophos, an organophosphorous compound in the samples of oil from the container, food remains on the platter and mixture of rice with vegetables on Aluminium tasla (utensil), additional director general of police (HQ) Ravinder Kumar told reporters making the report public.

Monocrotophos is used as a pesticide for agricultural purposes. It is very toxic to human beings and other animals, the ADG said quoting the FSL report.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...in-Bihar-midday-meal/articleshow/21193717.cms

Monocrotophos is an organophosphate insecticide. It is acutely toxic to birds and humans, and for that reason has been banned in the U.S. and many other countries. Widespread bird kills, especially of Swainson's Hawks, have resulted from the use of monocrotophos. Monocroptophos was cited in the death of 23 school children in Patna, India in July, 2013, when some of the pesticide was mixed into the school lunch.[1]
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[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/20/india-school-lunch-pesticides_n_3629301.html retrieved 21 July 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocrotophos

MONOCROTOPHOS

TRADE OR OTHER NAMES: Trade names for products containing monocrotophos include Azodrin, Bilobran, Crisodrin, Monocil 40, Monocron, Nuvacron, Pillardrin, and Plantdrin (6, 13, 154).

REGULATORY STATUS: Use of monocrotophos on potatoes and tomatoes was withdrawn in 1985 (154). All applications of monocrotophos were discontinued in the United States in 1988 (115). Before its withdrawal, monocrotophos was a Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) (127).
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http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/monocrot.htm

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bihar: Reports of 24 children dead, many hospitalized after school lunch in Chhapra, Second incident - One dead in Gaya

Re: Bihar: Reports of 24 children dead, many hospitalized after school lunch in Chhapra, Second incident - One dead in Gaya

Tehelka.com is in my opinion the place to go for insightful commentary on India's social development. If you are not following ‏@tehelkadotcom you probably should. Please follow the link to read in full - Ro

But the Bihar government is in no mood to learn anything from it, says G Vishnu Photographs by Ravi S Sahani
http://www.tehelka.com/a-toxic-lesson-in-despair/
G Vishnu
G VISHNU , Tehelka
2013-08-03 , Issue 31 Volume 10

The village looks as if the grim reaper paid a surprise visit. One can still hear the faint cries of wailing mothers. It has been five days since the mid-day meal contaminated with a deadly insecticide served at the Gandaman lower primary school killed 23 children on 16 July. Twenty-seven more are battling for their lives at a Patna hospital. Almost all of them are aged below 10.
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To begin with, the villagers were unable to comprehend what had happened to their kids. They tried everything from administering lemon juice to water, hoping that the vomiting would stop. When none of this worked, they decided to take the kids to the nearest hospital at Masrakh town 13 km away.
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As the doctors at Masrakh pleaded helplessness, the families took their kids to a government hospital in Chhapra, 55 km away. By then, three hours had passed. At Chhapra, 16 children died in their parents? arms. Doctors at Chhapra too failed to understand the nature of the toxicity. They also found it difficult to handle the large number of patients.

The parents then embarked on a three-hour-long journey to Patna. Four kids died on the way. At the Patna Medical College and Hospital, doctors finally got the diagnosis right and Atropine ? an agent that helps the body cope with phosphorus poisoning ? was administered to the children.
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However, the truth remains that the state government is trying to pin the entire blame on Kumari. An arbitrary rule brought in July 2006 states that the senior-most teacher at a school automatically becomes the headmistress until local authorities officially appoint one. As activist Apoorvanand pointed out in a recent article, Kumari was not officially appointed. The case also exposes the state government?s failure to ensure healthcare for its citizens beyond Patna.
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http://www.tehelka.com/a-toxic-lesson-in-despair/