About 200 railway employees working in the diesel locomotive shed in Tughlakabad had gathered at the canteen for lunch. They had all bought rotis, dal and raita at a subsidised rate. After about half an hour, some of them reportedly complained of dizziness and stomach spasms.

Meanwhile, panic spread after a dead lizard was found in the food of one of the employees. While some of the employees this reporter spoke to claimed that they fell dizzy even before they heard about the dead lizard found in the dal, others said that they felt uneasy only after they were informed about the lizard and that it might have been psychological.

The employees were immediately rushed to various hospitals and nursing homes in the capital. Thirty-four of them were reportedly taken to the Northern Railway Central Hospital in Paharganj.

Thirty two-year-old Ashok Kumar had been administered glucose and antibiotics. According to the hospital staff, his condition was reportedly stable and he was likely to be discharged tomorrow.

``When I heard that there was a dead lizard in the dal I panicked. Then I started vomiting,'' Ashok Kumar told Express Newsline. Other railway employees alleged that the canteen did not follow standards of hygiene and that there were rat dropping and cockroaches everywhere. Meanwhile, the canteen was closed and the cooks and other workers were moved to a safer place fearing wrath on part of the employees who had consumed the contaminated food.

However, contrary to popular belief, Dr Vikas Rampal of Lok Nayak hospital said most lizards were not poisonous, ``certainly not the common wall lizard.'' The people who reported sick, he felt, could have consumed either stale or contaminated food or it could have been just a psychological reaction.