Illegal construction, poor sewage responsible for dengue: HC

Unauthorised construction which led to poor sewerage system in the national capital are responsible for vector-borne diseases like dengue, the Delhi High Court said today.
"All this (dengue and chikungunya) is because of unauthorised construction, which leads to poor sewerage system," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said.
The observation came during the hearing of two PILs seeking directions to the authorities to take steps to stop the outbreak of these and other diseases which are vector borne, in the national capital.
The Centre's counsel said a draft action plan, containing advisories to the various agencies in Delhi and other states to deal with these diseases, was ready and would be filed before the next date of hearing.

The Delhi government submitted before the bench the statutory provisions which laid down the manner in which such outbreaks have to be dealt with and who has to be held responsible for ensuring compliance of the court orders.
The court, thereafter, listed the matters for hearing on May 16.

On the last date of hearing, the court had favoured the setting up of a high-level committee for taking effective measures against recurrence of dengue and chikungunya this year in the national capital.
Of the two petitions before the court, one has been filed by law student Gauri Grover who had sought lodging of FIR against directors of hospitals which had denied treatment to a seven-year-old boy who died of dengue and whose parents subsequently committed suicide in September 2015.

She had alleged that the boy had died due to the callous attitude of the hospitals.
The second PIL, filed by advocate Arpit Bhargava, has accused the AAP government and municipal corporations of not acting vigilantly and responsibly to control dengue and chikungunya outbreaks.