8 students bitten by rats while sleeping in hostel at Telangana school

HYDERABAD: Eight students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in Vikarabad's Nawabpet were bitten by rats while sleeping in their hostel.
It occurred in two separate incidents on Feb 22 and Feb 27, causing panic among the 248 residential students.
KGBV special officer Sri Latha said the rats were entering the campus through holes in the perimeter wall.
District officials who inspected the school said that a rat infestation around the school premises led to a sudden spate of bite attacks and assured that the school's boundary wall would be strengthened to prevent further incidents.
"We are concerned because these incidents occur at night when the students are asleep. Despite our best efforts, we are unable to detect these rodents during the day," said Sri Latha, adding that all the affected students received paediatric treatment and are doing well.
The district educational officer Renuka Devi conducted a thorough inspection of the premises."We have identified several entry points along the compound wall and immediate steps are being taken to seal them with cement," Renuka Devi said. The school authorities have implemented additional safety measures, including regular pest control and improved food storage.
Another similar incident reported as 9 students were bitten by rats while sleeping in Medak district last year.
Nine students at a Telangana social welfare residential school in Ramayampet, Medak district, were bitten by rats while sleeping in their hostel in July 2024. The incident occurred just days after a lizard was found in the food served to students at a model school in the same area.
According to school officials, all affected students, who are in Class 9, received treatment at the area hospital and were later sent back to the hostel. However, the incident has left them shaken, as this is not the first time they have faced a rodent menace on campus.
"Last year, too, there was a similar rodent issue," a second-year Intermediate student from the school told TOI, adding that several students are now scared about continuing in the hostel.
This incident, the latest in a series of similar cases reported from the state's residential hostels in recent months, has raised concerns about the unhygienic conditions in these facilities.