Probe begins into mango kernel deaths

Bhubaneswar/Phulbani: The Odisha government on Wednesday began an investigation into the death of two women allegedly after consuming mango kernel gruel, while Opposition BJD and Congress blamed the BJP administration’s “negligence” over the incident.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday ordered an inquiry by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of the Southern Division into the alleged deaths and medical complications among the people in Kandhamal district for eating mango kernel gruel.

RDC Roopa Roshan Sahoo, accompanied by Kandhamal Collector Amrit Ruturaj, visited Mandipanka village under Daringbadi block where two women reportedly died after eating gruel made from mango kernel on October 29. Six others also fell ill and two of them were now under treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

As part of her inquiry, Sahoo interacted with the affected families and locals besides the Collector and other officials of Kandhamal district. The RDC also inspected records of the Public Distribution System at the large area multipurpose societies (LAMPS) scheme, following accusations by Opposition parties that the villagers did not receive food grains in October. The RDC will submit its report to the government in seven days, officials said.

The Congress, however, demanded a judicial inquiry led by a sitting High Court judge to ensure impartiality and transparency in this case. “The RDC is a party to the case and should be held responsible for this neglect. The district collector also did not visit the affected village for a week. How can the RDC lead an impartial inquiry?” asked senior Congress leader Srikant Jena.

Jena, a former Union minister, sought to know why the people of Mandipanka village were “deprived” of food grain for October. “Had the food supplies been released on time in October, the loss of two precious lives could have been saved. Delay in food distribution violates the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and is a criminal offence,” he said.

When asked, Civil Supply Officer of Kandhamal, Jananendriya Mishra, said, “We have already supplied rice for this quarter, but its distribution to the beneficiaries gets delayed at times due to certain reasons beyond our control. Still, we have taken steps to strengthen the distribution system more effectively”.

However, a section of villagers have alleged that they do not get rice on time and in inadequate quantity. “The administrative authorities have turned a deaf ear to our genuine demand in every matter,” one of them alleged.

Meanwhile, Kandhamal Collector Amrit Ruturaj said that the administration has been creating awareness among the people of the area, to refrain from eating mango kernel gruel.

In a separate press conference, BJD spokesperson Lekhashree Samantsinghar demanded the resignation of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra for the tragedy. “Let the minister answer why the people were deprived of rice for October. What will they eat? They were forced to eat mango kernel gruel due to scarcity of food grain,” the BJD leader said.