Panic struck the Mohan lal Sah Balika Vidhya Mandir School in Nainital on Monday morning when 23 girl students from its hostel took ill of food poisoning and were admitted at the BD Pandey Hospital.
By late evening all but two girls were discharged from the hospital. The two remaining in the hospital were also reported to be out of danger.
It is learnt that pulao and tomato chutney was served to the girls for dinner on Sunday. There are 150 girls in the school hostel. On Monday morning when the students arrived at the college ground for morning sports activity some of the girls started vomiting and complained of severe stomach ache. Alarmed school authorities rushed them to the hospital.
When contacted over phone, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Nainital, Dr l M Upreti, told 'The Pioneer' that all girls are safe and most of them are discharged from the hospital. He said that a team of district health department was rushed to the school hostel to collect samples of food but no sample could be recovered. Dr Upreti opined that food served for the dinner could not have triggered poisoning as only a few of the 150 odd students developed the symptoms of poisoning and were admitted in the hospital.
The warden of the hostel, Asha Joshi, said that the hostel provides purified water for its inmates.
The Chief Education Officer (CEO) of Nainital, Raghunath Arya, told 'The Pioneer' the department has served a warning to the school. Arya along with other officers of the district office visited the school hostel after the incident. He also met the girls who were admitted to the hospital and inquired about their condition.