A day after 28 students fell ill at a west Delhi school, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) constituted a four-member committee to investigate the incident that took place in the school run by the civic body, an official said.
The police, meanwhile, registered a case against unknown persons and launched a probe, officials said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vichitra Veer said that the case has been registered under Sections 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.
Students of Nigam Pratibha Vidyalaya, Inderpuri, had fallen ill around 11 a.m. on Friday, forcing staff members to rush them to hospital. While 19 students were admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, nine more were treated at Acharya Bhikshu Hospital. Most of them were discharged later.
Mayor Shelly Oberoi, in a statement, had blamed the incident on suspected “gas leak” from a train passing through a railway track behind the school.
Northern Railway, however, had denied any leakage from any of the trains in the area.
“Railway wagons never transport any toxic gases which may pose any kind of health hazard. Moreover, no such gas leakage has been reported from any of the stations and there was no movement of trains with gaseous content passing through the area during the time of the incident,” it had said.
In a statement, the civic body said that the panel, comprising the zonal Superintending Engineer, the Assistant Commissioner, the Deputy Director of Education (DDE) and the Deputy Health officer (DHO), will submit its report in three days.
Panel report in 3 days
A senior MCD official said that the panel will look into all aspects related to the incident. “It will inspect the food quality as well as coordinate with the Railways to probe suspected gas leak, if needed,” he said.
The official said that the classes went on smoothly on Saturday. “No new student or those who were discharged from hospital complained of uneasiness today. Four students who were kept under observation at RML Hospital have also been discharged today,” the official said.
Parents whose wards were among the affected students said they didn’t send their children to school on Saturday since they were recuperating.
The police had on Friday collected samples of food served to the children by a private NGO, and sent it for forensic examination. While most parents had alleged “food poisoning”, local residents around the school also denied the presence of smoke or foul smell in the area at the time of the incident. They claimed that nobody fell ill in the neighbourhood.
