Srinagar, Jan 18 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday ordered constitution of an inter-ministerial team led by the Ministry of Home Affairs to visit Budhal village in Rajouri District to ascertain the cause of mysterious illness that has taken 16 lives within a span of 45 days in a small hamlet.
According to the details available, a the team will arrive in Budhal village on January 19 (Sunday) and in collaboration with the local administration it would work on providing immediate relief as well as taking precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in future.
The team constituted by the Union Home Minister comprises experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. “The team will also be assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs,” an official said.
“The team has experts from some of the most reputed institutions of the country. They have been arranged to manage the situation and understand the causative factors of deaths,” the official added.
The mysterious deaths in Budhal village of Rajouri district have created ripples across Jammu and Kashmir.
Health Minister of the Union Territory Sakina Masood Itoo has declared that these deaths did not occur due to any virus or influenza.
Talking to KNO she said, “Five deaths occurring initially had sent alarm bells ringing. It seemed that these deaths could have taken place due to some virus or influenza.”
“We were apprehending that it could be a virus like Covid but it’s nothing like it. All tests have come negative,” she added.
The Minister said that the Health Department was monitoring the situation closely from the very first day. “Samples were collected from the area and were sent for testing in five labs including Lucknow, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh and GMC Jammu, but all of them tested negative,” Itoo said, adding, “The teams of Health Department carried out the extensive survey and took samples of the people who were ill but no virus or influenza was found. All these tested negative in different laboratories.”
