SRI NAGAR: As the death toll in the mysterious illness in remote Budhal village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district has risen to 17, central teams will be visiting the village on January 20.
The authorities have sealed the spring in the affected village after water samples from the spring tested positive for a few pesticides and insecticides.
The Additional Deputy Commissioner (Kotranka subdivision) Dil Mir has ordered the sealing and security of the spring.
The spring was blocked by PHE (Jal Shakti) division Rajouri and sealed by the concerned magistrate, reads the order.
It is said the decision has been necessitated as there are apprehensions that the tribal population living in the village may collect water from the spring stealthily.
As per the order, Tehsildar shall ensure that no villager uses water from the spring in any case.
The Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Kandi has been directed to depute two to three security personnel round the clock at the spring to prevent the use of its water.
Seventeen people including 13 children and four adults of three families have died of mysterious illness in the Budhal village in last 50 days. The three families are related to each other and reside about 1.5 kms distance from each other.
The mysterious deaths in the Budhal village started on December 7, 2024.
On December 7, five persons including four children died of mysterious illness after they fell ill after taking a community meal. On December 12, a woman and three children died due to an unknown illness.
On January 9, Aslam’s six children fell ill and all of them succumbed to it.
His maternal uncle and aunt who lived with him also died last week. The deaths have caused fear among the villagers of the Budhal village.
The medical health experts have failed to ascertain the cause of the deaths.
According to the government, clinical reports, lab investigations and environmental samples taken from the village have indicated that deaths were not due to communicable diseases, viruses or bacteria.
The toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens, an official spokesman said.
The authorities have directed a probe. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by police has begun the probe.
The SIT sealed the houses of three families for investigation and shifted the family members to other locations. The samples have been taken from the three houses for further analysis.