No doubt Vikram ji, it is Jatropha curcas. Like anyone else, I am concerned about the poor children, too. I hope you have surveyed/visited the area and assessed the population of these Jatropha plants. How many plants (just an estimate, in 100s or 1000s) in the area you think is easily accessible by the slum children? Can the plants be uprooted by the local authorities? There is no point in keeping/growing these exotic plants when there is no plan to use them, and when there is no active safety measures to prevent accidental poisoning. Can the children and their parents be educated about the toxicity and its affects on the victims?
Regards Vijayasankar Raman National Center for Natural Products Research University of Mississippi On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 10:43 PM, vikram jit singh < [email protected]> wrote: > I am attaching another pix of the jatropha where its fruit is still green > for the experts to confirm the id. Thanks to all for the info sent earlier. > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: vikram jit singh <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 6:54 PM > Subject: ID OF WILD `WALNUT-LIKE' POISONOUS FRUIT EATEN BY KIDS > To: "J.M. Garg" <[email protected]>, efloraofindia < > [email protected]> > > > > > Dear Mr Garg, > > > Could your group of experts please help identify and describe this wild > fruit growing on the banks of the river ghaghar. This fruit was eaten by > slum kids who thought it was a kind of wild almond and 34 kids were taken > seriously ill with vomitting and loose motions. > > I am attaching pixs of a kid holding the dried fruits which were eaten and > a pix of the unripe fruit on the treee. > > I am writing about these poisonous wild fruits in the newspaper and would > require your group's expertise. > > Regards, > > > Vikram Jit Singh > > Golf Columnist and Wildlife Correspondent: > > *The Times of India* > > > at Chandigarh. > > > Columnist and Writer for: > > ** >
