Three more dropsy cases admitted

Though the new patients8217; condition may not be serious, what worries the health department officials is that two of these patients did not consume Krishna8217; brand of groundnut oil, which was banned and its producer was arrested.

Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ashok Bhatt said that oil used by these people was a well-known brand, whose identity he would reveal only on Tuesday after test reports confirmed adulteration. Another reason to keep back the brnad name was to prevent the trader from hiding his stock, he said, adding that seven samples had been sent to Vadodara-based food and drug control laboratory. He said that the crack-down had sent oil traders in Sabarkantha running for cover and they are even trying to retrieve the empty tins of oil sold by them.

Meanwhile, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Jaspal Singh said that the department had seized some stock of the Krishna8217; brand of oil. He also said that it had been found that some quantity of Krishna8217; brand had been sold in Indore in Madhya Pradesh also. The collector and the DSP there had been warned about the banned brand, he said. The health department has also warned their counterpart in Indore .

Meanwhile, Indian Medical Association IMA national vice-president Dr Bipin Patel has called upon all medical practitioners to report all suspected dropsy cases to the nearest government hospital. Sabarkantha collector Virat Vora stated that 12,853 cases in Dhansura and 21,000 in Modasa had been checked for dropsy symptoms.

Some health department officials are wondering from where the rapeseed oil with argemone contents which was found in 20 per cent concentration from the banned Krishna8217; brand had come. A senior official pointed out that the maturing and harvesting periods of rapeseed and argemone are different and so it was difficult to digest the theory that the two might have mixed unwittingly.

Meanwhile, the condition of the previous 13 patients continued to be stable. That none of the patients undergoing treatment has serious dropsy symptoms like cardiac problem suggests that argemone concentration was low, an official said.

At Himmatnagar, owner of Krishna Oil Mill and Cotton Company Mahesh Shah, was produced in a local court on Monday evening. Sabarkantha DSP Anil Pratham said that shops and premises of Shah8217;s relatives were raided and adulterated Krishna8217; brand oil was seized. Shah used to sell his stock to traders and consumers directly.

Meanwhile, following an intensive drive, Panchmahals District Collector A K Rakesh has pinpointed several areas in Vadodara, Dahod and his own district where the argemone-contaminated Krishna groundnut oil has been supplied during the past one month.

Talking to Express Newsline, Rakesh said he had questioned the chief traders at Godhra to collect this information and then cross-checked it with the authorities of the Sabarkantha district, from where the Krishna brand oil had been sold.

According to the district collector, 46 pouches had been dispatched to Pavijetpur, 1331 to Godhra, 43 to Lunawada, 119 to Shehra, 25 to Gogamba, 46 to Kaalol, 340 to Devgarhbaria, 236 to Santrampur and 20 to Limkheda areas.