HC: No action to check dengue

NEWDELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre, the Delhi government and the civic bodies for their ‘inaction’ in controlling dengue, chikungunya and malaria.

“We see no reason as to why in the event of death resulting from a vector borne disease, the persons who are responsible be not charged with section 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life),” the bench said in its long oral order.

“…in case immediate action is not taken by all the bodies, we shall be constrained to take strict view of the matter,” said the bench, comprising acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar .

The court’s order came while hearing PILS by lawyers Arpit Bhargava and Gauri Grover who sought directions to municipal bodies and other authorities to take steps to prevent the spread of dengue, chikungunya and malaria. “More worrying is the complete insensitivity to the disease that can be life endangering. In fact, they have resulted in several fatalities,” the court said.

The bench said the situation had worsened since the last time it saw the report presented in the court.

“Hearing after hearing, we have been assured that steps are being taken by the governments to curtail the diseases. Yet the vector borne diseases not only continue to exist but are actively breeding in Delhi,” the court said.

Appearing for the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), its counsel Monika Arora informed the court that MCDS cannot be blamed as they are “financially starved” and have not been able to pay the salaries to the sanitation workers.

The argument did not go down well with the bench, which said, “Whatever be the reason, such a state of affairs in the capital of India cannot be tolerated. Be it for finances for paying salaries, or collection & disposal of solid wastes as well the cleanliness of the city, it is not only the responsibility of the officers but also their public obligation”.

The court expressed displeasure on the increasing “commercialisation” in the city and questioned the authorities to see the condition of the guest houses in Hazrat Nizamuddin or the restaurants in Hauz Khas village.

Dengue cases Chikungunya cases Malaria cases

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