Health
Around 300 kids in Uttar Pradesh fall ill due to toxic gas from sugar mill waste
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has asked Shaharanpur police to probe into the incident
By Kundan Pandey
Published: Tuesday 10 October 2017
Around 300 children of Saraswati Shishu Mandi School fell ill after inhaling toxic gas from sugar mill waste in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh.
At least two dozen students fainted and the rest complained of nausea, uneasiness, itching and tears in eyes, according to the reports.
The affected students were rushed to district hospitals. Few of them were referred to hospitals in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut. Their condition is believed to be stable. More than 175 students have been discharged from the hospital.
A local journalist, requesting anonymity, says that the incident happened in the morning when the workers at the sugar mill started destroying the waste by using some chemicals.
The students, who were reportedly passing through the place, got affected by the gas emitting from the waste. As soon as they reached the school, they started feeling breathless.
The chief medical officer of the district has ordered a probe into the incident after the parents started protesting against carelessness of the sugar mill in disposing of its waste and demanded action against the administrators.
The sugar mill has been reportedly sealed off and chief minister Yogi Adityanath has also asked Shaharanpur police to investigate the case.
This May, at least 300 students in Delhi fell ill after gas leak from a container depot near their school.
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India Environment Portal Resources :
- Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding Tughlakabad Gas Leak, Delhi, 15/05/2017
- Question raised in Lok Sabha on Water Pollution by Sugar Industries, 01/03/2016
- Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding the pollution caused by the sugar industry- Kisan Sahakari Chini Mills Limited, Uttar Pradesh, 07/09/2016
- School siting near industrial chemical facilities: Findings from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s investigation of the West Fertilizer explosion
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