According to District Magistrate Kamini Chauhan, a large number of children reported to the District Hospital with similar symptoms last Friday. After investigations, the reason was found to be the jatropha seed, she says.

A public notice issued by Chief Conservator of Forests, Meerut, Dr R P Bharti, says: “Some people have planted jatropha trees for economic gains, but it is the duty of the people to give priority to the human life over economic gains.”

Jatropha seeds are poisonous. Its leaves look like those of grape plants, and the seeds taste sweet. Several people have died in the state in the past after consuming the seeds.

Teams of Forest and Horticulture departments — the agencies designated by the government for jatropha promotion — are now scouting for jatropha trees and destroying them.

The notice directs all planters to destroy the trees and asks teachers and parents to create awareness among the children about the ill-effects of consuming jatropha seeds. “If any untoward incident happens after the issuance of the public notice, jatropha growers can be penalised,” it adds.

Officials in the Forest and Horticulture departments, however, are not sure under what law can they penalise the planters.

“It’s not illegal to grow jatropha,” admits the Chief Conservator of Forests, “but the notice was issued in the interest of the safety of children. There have been three incidents of jatropha poisoning in Meerut alone.”

Deputy Director, Horticulture, Arjun Prasad Tiwari, says: “We are only trying to see that there are no such trees near schools and other vulnerable areas.”

An official policy, on the other hand, encourages jatropha plantation.

Not just landowners, self-help groups can also cultivate jatropha on land belonging to the village panchayat or the state government after entering into a revenue sharing arrangement.

“The jatropha system creates a positive reciprocity between raw material, energy production and environment,” says a government publication on Jatropha Mission in UP. Targets are fixed for jatropha cultivation and the government is promoting what it calls P4 model — Public-Private-Panchayat Partnership — for jatropha cultivation.