An unsettling calm has settled over Bhudpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district, days after it made headlines for a “series of mysterious deaths”. Media reports indicated that around 12 people died suddenly between late May and early June of 2025.
While villagers point to a contaminated industrial drain as the probable cause, the district health department has contradicted these claims and dismissed local fears. However, larger concerns over pollution in the area remain.
Following the media attention, the chief medical officer (CMO) of Baghpat conducted a survey in the second week of June. “As per our survey, nine people died between April 1 and June 12. Some died of natural causes, and others had chronic diseases,” CMO Tirath Lal told Down To Earth (DTE), a stance echoed by the village head.
Bhudpur, with a population of 4,844 (2,680 males and 2,164 females, according to the 2011 Census), is located near the Ramala Sahkari Chini Mills Ltd. Residents of Bhudpur allege the mill dumps its discharge into the drain, polluting the groundwater.
DTE visited the village on June 17 and found that seven people, all 50-60 years of age, died between May 1 and June 9. Of these, five collapsed suddenly. An additional death occurred a month prior (March 19) to this cluster.
Susheel, a 55-year-old farmer, was the first one to die under mysterious circumstances during this period. He collapsed at his home on May 1 and died.
His wife, Manju, is yet to come to terms with the suddenness of his death. “He lay down and then suddenly collapsed. We called a village doctor (quack) who said he died of heart failure,” she recounted, adding that Susheel had no history of blood pressure, diabetes, or cholesterol issues. Manju is now left with no income and she is now the sole caretaker of her son who has an intellectual disability.
On May 25, 51-year-old Jasveer Singh passed. His nephew, Gaurav Singh, found him unresponsive when he tried to wake him for lunch. A village doctor attributed his death to heart failure, though Gaurav noted his uncle had diabetes with levels around 200 and high blood pressure.
Rajesh Sharma, a 56-year-old farmer, collapsed on May 30 after taking just a few sips of tea at a stall. “He was made to gargle and he collapsed. A local doctor declared him dead, citing heart failure,” his brother, Anil Kumar, told DTE, emphasising that Rajesh had no pre-existing conditions or history of heart problems. “Signs such as vomiting indicate a possible heart attack,” Deepak Kumar, a doctor at the Baghpat District Hospital, told DTE.
Rajpal Singh, a 70-year-old resident and the father of the village Pardhan, said he suspected that Rajesh died because he was a smoker. But Anil Kumar denied that, stating that his brother would only smoke occasionally.
Just a few days later, on June 2, Satish, a 50-year-old farmer, suffered a similar fate. His nephew, Manish, recalled Satish struggling to breathe and collapsing just 300 metres from a shop. He was rushed to the nearest hospital in Baraut, where he was pronounced dead due to heart failure. “He was a healthy man and had no pre-existing health issues,” Manish stated, expressing his deep concern: “Every morning I wake up, I try to find out if everyone is okay and hope there is no new death. I am worried about what is happening, and we do not know what is causing these deaths.”
Seven days later, on June 9, the Tomar family was struck by tragedy. Vinod, a 55-year-old retired sugar mill employee, collapsed during his morning walk with his wife, Rakesh. “He fell down suddenly. His eyes were open, and he could not talk. The villagers took him to a hospital. I was told that he died of heart failure,” Rakesh recalled, noting her husband was healthy with no pre-existing conditions.
A similar case occurred earlier, on March 19, a month before the cluster of deaths. Somvatti, a 57-year-old housewife, experienced severe chest pain around 9 pm and died within five minutes, according to her husband, Rakesh. Like the others, she had no history of diabetes, cholesterol, or blood pressure issues, and was considered healthy
These six cases highlight a disturbing pattern: Individuals in their 50s, five of whom were healthy with no known pre-existing conditions, died suddenly without warning, leaving their families in shock. Family members confirmed that no post-mortem examinations were conducted, a fact corroborated by the CMO.
When DTE asked the CMO about these six specific cases, he reiterated that their survey found that deaths in the villages were either natural or due to chronic diseases. “We know of two deaths due to heart attacks. One died of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and high blood pressure, and another due to a damaged liver. We know this because we checked with hospital records of those who were hospitalised,” he explained.
The CMO’s reference to CKD was for Shafiq, a 65-year-old labourer whose death certificate, accessed by DTE, stated he died on June 3 from hypertension and CKD after five days of hospitalisation. Talking to the residents, DTE didn't come across anyone with a history of damaged liver who died during the period.
Killari, a 60-year-old suffering from paralysis, died on June 10.
Out of the families mentioned, only Killari’s and Jasveer Singh’s family told DTE that doctors visited them for the survey in the second week of June. Kumar, who conducted the survey, asserted that his team’s survey showed nine people died, many of whom had chronic diseases like diabetes. “They were retired. There was nothing out of the ordinary in these deaths,” he stated.
While statements made by the CMO did not match with those of the family members, the situation in Bhudpur highlighted significant issues: The polluted drain, no piped water supply from the government and insufficient public health facilities, forcing many residents to travel to Meerut or Delhi for medical treatment.
Residents reported that the Ramala drain existed even before the Ramala Sahkari Chini Mills Ltd, a company registered in Uttar Pradesh under the Companies Act 1956, was commissioned in 1979 in Ramala village.
Surendra Pal Singh, former pradhan and director of the Ramala mills between 1994 and 1997, told DTE that “the drain was clean before the industry came up. People used to drink that water”.
According to a compliance report submitted to the National Green Tribunal in December 2023, the Ramala drain originates in Kandhla town in Shamli and carries effluents of the Ramala Sahkari Chini Mill and sewage of Kandhla town.
The report also flagged dumping of fly ash by the company along Ramala drain. Fly ash is generated during the combustion of bagasse, the residue from cane after juice extraction.
However, in 2018, the company had mentioned that they plan to manage fly ash by giving it to farmers for soil conditioning, due to its nutrient value, and cement plants for mixing. This was mentioned in the inspection report by Shri Environmental Technology Institute, New Delhi prepared for the environmental clearance in response to the company’s request for expanding the mill capacity.
The compliance report submitted to NGT also found that dissolved oxygen (DO) level of the drain was zero. DO is the amount of oxygen available to aquatic organisms. A value of below 3mg / L is too low to support fish. DO levels drop when excess organic waste, especially domestic and animal sewage and industrial waste increases the demand for oxygen in the water.
It also highlighted that the drain received sewage from Ramala and Bhudpur villages and agricultural runoff, while also adding that there is a possibility of discharge from the sugar mill, making it polluted. The drain then meets the Krishni River, a tributary of the Hindon river, near Gopalpur Khadana, Baghpat.
However, the environment clearance document of the company noted that the wastewater is collected by the wastewater system, which is then used for irrigation after the necessary treatment.
DTE found contradictory accounts on air pollution. Residents complained that the industry emits smoke, making it difficult to breathe and causing black deposits on clothes left to dry. However, the environmental clearance report by Shri Environmental Technology Institute collected data in 2018 and found all ambient air quality parameters to be within Central Pollution Control Board standards, attributing particulate matter levels in the air to agricultural activities.
Ramala Sahkari Chini Mills was closed when DTE visited in June. They have no website.
The residents were unsure of the water quality. “The groundwater has not been tested to put all doubts to rest,” Singh told DTE. He also said that the drain should be concretised to prevent the water from seeping into the ground.
They also do not have access to clean piped drinking water despite the existence of an overhead tank in the village. “Some 10-15 years ago, a few houses were given piped water connections and it worked for a month. But the pipelines broke and stopped working,” Surendra Pal Singh said.