Schools reopen in J&K's Badhal Village after two months due to mysterious illness

NEW DELHI: Government schools in Budhal village, Rajouri re-opened after a two-month closure due to a mysterious illness that claimed 17 lives, including 14 children.
The schools, which were shut on January 23 and reopened on March 4, have reduced their examination syllabus to account for lost academic time.
The village was declared a containment zone during the closure period, and the cause of the illness remains unidentified.

"Everything is fine right now. None of the residents have any symptoms (of the mysterious illness). Schools are running. Examinations are going on... We are closely surveilling the situation and even monitoring people's diets. Children were scared to go to school because the majority of the people who died were children. Mid-day meals have been stopped for now, and clean water is being provided in all the schools. The school staff has also been directed to take special care of students' cleanliness, health, and food," says ADC Kotranka, Rajouri, Dalmir Choudhary.
"The schools were shut down on 23 January after four deaths in the area and opened on 4 March. We went from house to house to convince people to send their children to school for the examinations. Children are coming to school, but there is still an atmosphere of fear among people. Some parents come with their children and take them away as soon as the exams are over. We have arranged for clean water for the children and told them not to eat anything from outside. Mid-day meals have been stopped for now in the schools," says Sansar Singh, a teacher at Government Girls Middle School, Badhal Gali, Rajouri.
"One of my classmates died and due to that our school was closed for two months. We have suffered a lot. We are not able to take the exams because we could not prepare for them, nor could we go outside to take tuition. There is an atmosphere of fear everywhere," says student Mohd Nadeem.
"Six children died in my area. I was in a hospital in Rajouri for about a month and a half. Now, the schools are open, and we have not learned or memorised anything. We were at home, we were very scared. The syllabus has been reduced a bit. We bring food and water from home," says another student, Zulafqar Ali.
The administration has implemented safety measures, including the provision of clean water and suspension of mid-day meals, while maintaining close surveillance of the situation.