
SRINAGAR: The administration declared Badhaal village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district a containment zone, prohibiting all private and public gatherings, after 17 people, including 13 children and 4 elders from three families, died of a mysterious illness in the last 50 days.
The District Magistrate of Rajouri has enforced Section 163 of the BNSS in Badhal village as part of the containment strategy and surveillance measures to prevent further spread of the infection.
According to the order issued by District Magistrate Rajouri, "All families where deaths have occurred shall be declared as Containment Zone 1. The houses of these affected families will be sealed and entry will be totally restricted for all individuals including family members unless authorized by designated officials”
“All families identified as close contacts of affected individuals shall be declared as Containment Zone 2. The immediate shifting of individuals from these families to GMC Rajouri for continuous health monitoring is mandatory,” further reads the order.
It further states that all households in Badhal village have been declared as Containment Zone 3. “Staff will be deployed to ensure continuous monitoring of food consumption in the zone. Police personnel will be stationed to ensure compliance with the consumption of replaced food items under observation. Designated officers will ensure that a logbook is maintained, recording every instance of food distribution and consumption. The entries in the logbook will be made three times a day and signed by the monitoring officer for accountability purposes,” it stated.
The officials will ensure proper monitoring of all meals provided to the families in the containment zones.
On Tuesday evening, a youth Aijaz Ahmed fell ill and has been hospitalised. He is nephew of Mohammad Aslam, who lost eight family members including six children and maternal uncle and aunt to the mysterious illness.
The mysterious deaths in the Badhal village started on December 7, 2024.
On December 7, five persons including four children of a family died of mysterious illness after they fell ill after taking a community meal.
On December 12, a woman and three children of another family died due to a mysterious illness.
On January 9, Mohammad Aslam’s six children fell ill and all of them have died since. 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.
Medicos and health experts have been unable to determine the cause of the deaths. According to the government, clinical reports, lab investigations, and environmental samples from the village show that the deaths are not caused by any communicable disease, virus, or bacteria.
An inter-ministerial team is camping in the village to determine the cause of the deaths. Authorities have instructed the police to investigate, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has begun the probe.