VIJAYAWADA: As many as 153 persons fell sick with food poisoning after drinking ‘panakam’ (a traditional drink made with jaggery and black pepper powder on the occasion of Srirama Navami festival) at A Konduru in Krishna district. Those who participated in Srirama Navami celebrations at Adda Road and consumed panakam fell sick with the symptoms of diarrhea.
All the victims were from Chaitanya Nagar Thanda and Mantriya Thanda two small habitations located on either side of the road under A Konduru village. The population of the two villages is about 500 of which 39 people were severely affected and rest of them also developed symptoms of diarrhea. The villagers participated in the festival celebrations on Monday evening and had pulihora and panakam distributed as prasadam.
People started falling sick with vomiting, diarrhea and fever over the night and by the morning the number went on increasing in both the habitations. The revenue officials swung into action immediately and shifted them to Tiruvru and Mylavaram government hospitals.
The officials took preventive measures by conducting door to door survey in the two habitations and shifted everyone even with little symptoms to hospitals. A Konduru tahasildar M Suresh Kumar and health officer M Anusha visited every home to make sure that no one was left behind.
Speaking to TOI, Suresh Kumar said, "primarily it appears that the diarrhea was because of food poisoning which took place in panakam. We have noticed that the panakam was mixed in the fertilizer cans. We suspect that the cans might have not been properly cleaned and people fell sick because of chemical contamination. However, the food safety officials have collected samples and a detailed analysis is being done."
Krishna district collector B Lakshmikantam visited the villages and oversaw the measures being taken by the officials. A medical camp was set-up in the villages. Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas and Tiruvuru MLA Rakshana Nidhi also enquired about the incident.
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