Over 70 People Fall Ill After Consuming Food Items Made From Buckwheat Flour In Haridwar

“72 people fell ill after eating buckwheat flour in various villages of Haridwar on Saturday evening,” ANI quoted District Magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey as saying.

(File Photo/Getty)

New Delhi: Over 70 people fell ill after consuming food items made from buckwheat flour (kuttu ka aata) after ending their day-long fast in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar city on the first day of the Navratri festival, said officials.

“72 people fell ill after eating buckwheat flour in various villages of Haridwar on Saturday evening,” ANI quoted District Magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey as saying.

“All of them were admitted to a hospital in Haridwar,” he added.

This development took place as several cases of food poisoning were reported on Friday night and Saturday morning in the villages of Kangri, Gajiwali, Shyampur, Brahampuri and Roshanabad areas of Haridwar.

The District Magistrate has directed the officers to take tough action against the wholesalers’ and to collect the samples.

Pandey, who visited the District Hospital and Mela Hospital along with other officers to inquire about the condition of the patients, said “instructions have been given to stop the supply of buckwheat flour to the shopkeepers here temporarily”.

“We are closely looking into the matter and we will try to nab the accused at the earliest,” he added.

Chaitra Navratri, the nine-day-long Hindu festival, began earlier on Saturday.

Chaitra, as per the Hindu calendar, is the first month of the year. The festival symbolises the victory of good over evil.

The last day of the festivities is observed as Ram Navami, which celebrates the birth of Lord Rama on earth.

Chaitra Navratri also represents the victory of Goddess Durga over demon Mahishasura.

The devotees fast and worship all the nine forms of Goddess Durga over the nine days of the festival for prosperity and fortune.