Om Birla meets students who fell ill after exposure to chemical gas leakage in Kota

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota-Bundi MP Om Birla visited the JK Lone Hospital in Kota on Monday and met the government school students who had fallen sick after exposure to suspected chemical gas leakage allegedly from the Chambal Fertilisers and Chemical Limited (CFCL). However, the CFCL management had refuted any gas leakage or release from its plant.

Meanwhile, the Kota district administration is yet to assess and ascertain cause of sudden sickness of the school students in the Gadepan village near the CFCL plant. At least 16 students, all girls, were reportedly under treatment and medical observation in the JK Lone Hospital. Speaker Om Birla met all 16 students one-by-one in the general ward and the of the hospital in Kota.

State Energy Minister Heera Lal Nagar, Kota Collector Dr Ravindra Goswami, Kota Medical College Principal Dr Sangeeta Saxena, Kota district BJP president Rakesh Jain accompanied Birla during his visit to the hospital. Speaking to media after the visit, Birla said all the students in the hospital are out of danger and in normal condition and are under a regular monitoring by a 7- member team of doctors.

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Cause of sickness unknown

The district administration has not yet assessed and ascertained the cause of the sickness. The students complained of eye-itching, breathing-trouble, and uneasiness, Birla said. Meanwhile, state Energy Minister Heera Lal Nagar, on the basis of symptoms with students, pointed out the possibility of Ammonia gas leakage behind the sickness but added actual reason will be clear only after detailed probe report, which is yet to be received.

Kota Medical College principal Dr Sangeeta Saxena said the students in the hospital were being treated on basis of symptoms while the cause of sickness still remains unknown. Except a few of the students with complaints of anxiety, all other students in the hospital are now in normal condition, she said.