Supreme Court to hear PIL on Chikunguniya menace in Delhi

The PIL raises the issue of the national capital being used a dumping ground and implicates the city's municipal authorities in the case

The Supreme Court has decided to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) asking the Delhi government to take adequate measures to control the spread of vector-borne diseases- chikungunya, dengue and malaria- in the city.

The apex court division bench, headed by Justice Anil R. Dave, will hear the plea on September 26.

The PIL, filed by a Delhi-based doctor, Anil Mittal, raises the issue of the national capital being used a dumping ground and implicates the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and other wards as parties in the case.

The Delhi Health Minister, Satyendra Jain had aprrised the state Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about a Delhi High court order that  had asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)  to take preventive measures to help control the spread of these diseases last year.

Kejriwal has charged the MCD for not carrying out fogging properly and has asked the state health minister to see to take adequate measures in the matter, said Jain to ANI.

Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia held a press conference announcing that he will ensure dengue, chikungunya and malaria are kept under check through intensive fogging throughout the city.

Sisodia added that fogging will be carried out till October end to remove all mosquitoes. He also made assurances of the state government co-operating with the municipal authorities reminding however that the work is under their jurisdiction.

Several cases of dengue and chikungunya have been reported from all over Delhi in different hospitals. At the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 100 patients have tested positive for chikungunya, while 39 others have tested positive for dengue.

Five deaths from chikungunya complications were reported till yesterday at the Apollo Hospital, most of  whom were aged 80 or above.

AIIMS laboratories have tested 1,443 chikungunya blood test samples positive till September 13. At the Centre-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, 425 chikungunya cases have been reported this season while 112 have been diagnosed with dengue. Safdarjung Hospital, which is also Centre-run institution, have confirmed 536 cases of chikungunya and 342 patients suffering from dengue.