AES toll 118, BJP leader urges Modi to visit Muzaffarpur

Patna/New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister C.P. Thakur on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Bihar's Muzaffapur, where at least 118 children have died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).

In a letter to Modi, Thakur, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member, highlighted that the every year, the AES toll has been increasing and it would require a biochemical lab along with a multi-speciality facility in Muzzafarpur to tackle the situation.

"Every year, children die after consuming litchis and it is required to set up a biochemical lab to ascertain which part of the fruit has been causing the disease.

"The lab can be merged with upcoming AIIMS-like hospitals which could be opened at Muzaffarpur," he said in the letter.

The BJP leader also said that people were very angry and couldn't resist venting their anger when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited the city and he was forced to leave in a hurry since he was heckled by the public.

Requesting the Prime Minister to visit the region, he also sought some financial help to the parents of these children.

"In present scenario, if you can make a visit to Muzaffarpur, it will be ideal. At least some financial help to the parents of the dead affected children should be given because they are mostly poor," the letter read.

The number of children who have succumbed to suspected AES in Bihar's Muzaffarpur rose to 118 on Thursday even as the National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Union Health Ministry and the state government over the increasing number of deaths.