Who will ensure there is no dengue outbreak: HC

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city government and civic authorities to give the names of officials who could be held responsible for an outbreak of dengue or chikungunya cases this year in the national capital.

A bench of Acting chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said, “Who will give us the certificate that there will be no dengue [case] this year? Who will assure this court?”.

“We are talking about the life of people here. Can you allow 21st century Delhi to be reeling under malaria, chikungunya, dengue...,” the bench remarked.

The bench said it wanted senior officials of the concerned authorities to just not submit status reports while sitting in air-conditioned rooms, but to also visit the ground and do physical monitoring.

The court further observed that a lot of hospitals in the capital remain underused. It said that there was a need to increase the number of beds to cope with peak time requirements in case of an outbreak of mosquitoborne tropical diseases in Delhi.

Expressing concern over the numerous deaths in 2016, the court also asked the agencies to inform it about what preventive steps they had taken in comparison to last year with regard to breeding of mosquitoes that spread dengue.

The court has been hearing two pleas accusing the city government and the civic bodies of not acting vigilantly and responsibly to control dengue and chikungunya outbreaks in the city.

One of the petitions being heard by the court was filed by advocate Arpit Bhargava seeking direction to various civic bodies to take immediate steps to contain the disease.