Jammu: In view of health concerns in Badhal village, District Magistrate Rajouri has declared the Badhaal area as a containment zone, officials said on Wednesday.
Strict provisions have been imposed in the area under Section 163 of the BNSS Act to prevent any possible threat. The houses of the affected families have been sealed, and the entire area has been divided into three zones for better management. A complete ban has been imposed on all types of gatherings, public and private. Officials have been deployed to monitor the quality and distribution of food given to families living in the containment zone, they added.
As many as 17 people have died in this village due to unknown reasons. After the health of another 25-year-old youth deteriorated, he was sent to PGI Hospital, Chandigarh.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has ordered the constitution of an inter-ministerial team led by the Ministry of Home Affairs to visit the affected village to ascertain the causes of deaths. The team consists of experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, and the Ministry of Water Resources reached Rajouri on Monday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo on Tuesday held a meeting of the Divisional and District administrations along with Health experts and the Police Department to take an assessment of the measures taken so far to identify the real causes behind the mysterious deaths reported from village Badhal in district Rajouri here.
During this meeting, the Chief Secretary aked the concerned Health and Police Departments to take stringent containment measures in consultation with the Divisional administration to ensure that there is no further loss of any life, an official spokesperson said.
He advised the concerned to frame a proper SOP for monitoring the population of the village. He asked them to deploy sufficient manpower from both the Health Department and the Police to enforce the dos and don'ts set in the SOP, the spokesperson added.
He also urged them to study the reports received from the national diagnostic institutions that had taken samples from the village. He directed them to take every possible measure to protect the lives of these villagers till the toxicology reports point out the actual causes of these deaths, the spokesperson said.
Secretary H&ME, Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah informed the meeting that every measure has been taken to isolate the families and provide them food and water after testing the same.
Meanwhile over 30 villagers of Budhaal Rajouri have been shifted to Government Medical College Rajouri for observation on Wednesday.
The Principal of Government Medical College, Rajouri, Dr. Amarjeet Singh Bhatia said that due to the sincerity of the administration and health department, several villagers of Badhaal have been shifted to a safer place.
"We went to Budhal village several times along with a team of doctors, but no one among us fell sick, which depicts it is not any virus. The administration is serious about their people; that is why these people were shifted to a hospital, a safer place. The death of 17 people has prompted authorities to take swift action to safeguard public health and investigate the cause," Dr Bhatia added.
Bhatia has confirmed that the incidents are not linked to any bacterial or viral communicable disease, based on preliminary findings.
