Delhi HC criticises Centre, state govt on dengue
New Delhi, Oct 06: Sharply critical of the Central and state governments for failure to prevent the outbreak of the dengue fever in the capital, the Delhi High Court on Friday sought their reply as to why they failed to implement the slew of directions passed by it in 1996.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir directed the two governments besides the civic agencies to file within a week the reasons for their failure in implementing its 1996 order on dengue and other diseases.
If 3,000 reported cases and 40 deaths cannot ring the alarm bell, considering the population in the city, a day is not far that people, who suffer from dengue today, will suffer from Chikungunya tomorrow and some other unknown diseases day after tomorrow, the bench observed.
It expressed its anguish over the civic agencies not filing a report so far on the court`s order that a National Co-ordination Committee, set up to monitor the situation, would suggest some definite measures to make the dengue control programme meaningful, efficacious and comprehensive.
The court directed the Centre and state government to file the affidavit within 10 days on the issue. The court had given directions in 1996 and you have not taken any step so far, this is a shocking state of affairs, the court lamented.
Like the measures to prevent malaria, why can`t the government have preventive measures for this disease also as so many cases are being reported every year in Delhi and other parts of the country, the bench remarked.
The bench wanted to know why the drain adjacent to the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) was not covered till the date despite the fact that Rs 21 crore was sanctioned for the work by the government.
As no step has been taken to cover the `nallah` (drain) near AIIMS, mosquitoes breeding in the drain have caused the death of a young doctor, which is unfortunate, the court observed.