150 Students Suffer Food Poisoning at Uttarakhand’s Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology

150 students allegedly fell sick of food poisoning at the Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar on Wednesday. The incident occurred after students were served a special meal.

At the University’s Patel Bhawan hostel, where nearly 185 second-year engineering students reside, the mess operator arranged for a special diet to be served to the students. This included naan, rice, rasmalai with paneer for vegetarian students and butter chicken for non-vegetarian students.

Sources say about 1.5 hours after eating the meal, several students reported discomfort and complained of vomiting and diarrhoea. Panic gripped the university as the number of cases increased, prompting the hostel authorities to inform the hostel manager, warden and the Dean Student Welfare (DSW).

Around 150 affected students were rushed by the authorities to the university hospital to receive treatment, using all three university ambulances and a bus. Senior university officials, including the Registrar, also reached the hospital to monitor the situation.

Most of the students were later discharged and sent back to their hostels after receiving primary medical care. However, 5 students with serious conditions remained admitted, and two have been referred to a private hospital in Rudrapur for advanced medical care.

Students alleged that they had made complaints about the mess operator despite which the operator was not replaced. Only a financial penalty was imposed by the university administration on the operator, following which the special diet had been arranged. Several students claimed that the mess operator had been using substandard food and that they had even found insects in the food on two previous occasions.

The university administration has formed a three-member committee to probe the incident. "We have suspended the contractor's food service and formed an investigation committee," said a university official.