C'garh: 2 kids die, 7 taken ill after drinking flavoured milk

Two minor girls died and seven others fell ill after drinking flavoured milk supplied at two different anganwadi centres in Bijapur and Janjgir-Champa districts of Chhattisgarh, police said today.
At least 10 children consumed milk yesterday at the anganwadi centre of Ketulnar village under Kutru police station limits in Bijapur as a part of 'Mukhyamantri Amrit Yojna', Bijapur Superintendent of Police K L Dhruv told PTI.
Later, four of them complained of abdominal pain and vomiting in the evening, the SP said.
Of them, two girls, both aged 3, were taken to local 'baiga' (quacks) by their parents following which their condition deteriorated and they died.

Besides, the condition of two others were said to have improved after they were provided by some local traditional therapy, he said.
When the incident came to light this morning, Collector Ayyaz Tamboli Fakir Bhai and other officials rushed to the spot and shifted the children to Bijapur district hospital as a precautionary measure, he said, adding the condition of other children was reported to be normal, he said.

The exact cause of the death will be known after the postmortem. Further investigation is on, he said.
In a separate incident, five children, in the age group of 3 to 6, fell ill after consuming the flavoured milk at an anganwadi centre of Darra village in Nawagarh block of Janjgir-Champa district yesterday, a senior official said.

They all were admitted to Janjgir-Champa district hospital last evening after they complained of uneasiness.
"They all were discharged from the hospital this morning," the official said.
The CM chaired a meeting of senior officials, including
Additional Chief Secretary N Baijendra Kumar, during which he said Women and Child Development Minister Ramsheela Sahu and School Education Minister Kedar Kashyap have been asked to visit the village to take stock of the situation.
Besides, Director of Women and Child Development Department Sanjay Alang has also been directed to accompany the ministers during their visit.
The main opposition Congress has accused the state government of committing irregularities in distribution of milk to children and demanded strict action against those responsible for the incident.

"In the name of 'amrit' the ruling BJP is distributing poison. It is a criminal offence and the guilty should be arrested and punished," party's state spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said.
Underthe scheme toeradicate malnutrition, the state government provides flavoured milk to children at anganwadicentres once a week.
Chhattisgarh Rajya Dugdh Mahasangh has been tasked with the distribution of milk.