Senior health dept officer to ensure providing proper facilities at Narela quarantine facility: HC

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the AAP government to depute a senior officer of its health department to visit the quarantine facility at Narela here to ensure adequate and proper facilities are provided to COVID-19 patients lodged there.

A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula also directed the Delhi government to take action in accordance with law against any "delinquent health worker".

With these directions, the bench disposed of a plea which had alleged that the Delhi government was not providing doctors or maintaining hygiene and sanitisation at the DDA flats in Narela in west Delhi which have been turned into quarantine wards for coronavirus patients.

During the hearing on Thursday, the allegation was opposed by the Delhi government, which said that "all necessary facilities such as boarding, food, medical, sanitation and security" were being provided to inmates of the quarantine facility.

The petitioner, during the hearing, contended that though workers and doctors have been deployed, they are not doing their job.

The petitioner's lawyer also claimed that neither the food quality was good nor basic items were being provided to patients upon arrival.

Taking note of the details given by the Delhi government about facilities being provided by it, the bench said the allegations made by the petitioner were "general, bald and vague".

The petitioner, Nirmal Gorana, had alleged that the Delhi government was not making available doctors at the flats and was not ensuring proper hygiene and sanitisation in the area.

His plea had also claimed that there were not sufficient number of sanitation workers for carrying out disinfection of toilets and rooms, the food quality needs to be improved, and linen, soap, sanitizers and other essential items were not being provided.