48 girls fall sick: Hostel warden booked

• Second incident of food poisoning in 20 days in same residential schoolA
• Victims are admitted to two Government Hospitals

Nuzivid (Krishna): As many as 48 girls of a Krishna district residential school were hospitalised after food poisoning. The students of Kasturba Gurukul Girls School at Rangapuram of Reddigudem mandal were admitted to government hospitals located at Mylavaram and Nuzivid for medical treatment. Specialists have been monitoring the situation at Nuzivid hospital as condition of some victims deteriorated. Parents of the victims lodged a complaint with the police. A case has been registered against hostel warden, Mylavaram Circle Inspector Bangaru Raju said. It was just 20 days ago that 30 inmates of the same hostel took ill because of poor quality food supplies. Embarrassed by the recurrence of food poisoning at the hostel, the district administration acted swiftly putting hostel special officer Veenabai on suspension. The fresh incident of food poisoning spread like wildfire. Two days ago, the girls were reportedly served stale items under breakfast menu-- tamarind rice and soup. The students started vomiting and complained of severe stomach-ache. The victims were gripped by panic as it was second time of their suffering at the hostel. A group of 30 girls were hospitalised earlier after consuming meal served to them. The victims then were rushed to Reddigudem government hospital for treatment. Subsequently, students of the hostel were sent to their native places. The authorities had closed the hostel with a total strength of 139 students in an apparent bid to stem the growing resentment among students and parents. It was immediately after their return to school two days ago, the poor students were again provided with wrong food in the morning. A Parents of the students suffered a shock on coming to know about the latest incident. They are worried about the vulnerability of their kids to the government food hazards. Both the students and parents are nervous following hospitalisation of the fresh batch of girls. District Education Officer Devanandam confirmed the punitive action against the hostel chief. A National Students' Union of India (NSUI) State president Rajiv Ratan visited the hospitals and enquired about the condition of victims. YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Meka Pratap Appa Rao and Mylavaram Congress leader Appasani Sandeep were among others who also consoled the victims. Meanwhile, Mylavaram MLA and district Telugu Desam Party leader Devineni Umamaheswara Rao demanded the government to take appropriate steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.