Telangana HC directs formation of panel to monitor dengue preventive measures

Expressing concern over prevalence of dengue fever, the Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the state government to constitute a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to monitor measures being taken to tackle the menace.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Raghvendra S Chauhan gave the interim order on two petitions and a petition initiated by the court itself on the government's alleged inaction in taking appropriate steps to check dengue.

Telangana Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Health), Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner among other senior officials appeared before the bench complying with its earlier directive.

The chief justice, who was unhappy with the seriousness shown in tackling the dengue menace and steps taken for preventing mosquito breeding, said the court would monitor the case on a weekly basis.

Directing the constitution of the monitoring committee, the bench said it should meet weekly once and deliberate on the subject.

Every Friday, the matter will be taken up by the high court, the CJ said.

The court had earlier appointed senior advocate S Niranjan Reddy as amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.

In a previous hearing, the court had said it was not convinced that "effective measures were being taken by the government with regard to dengue fever control."