Who will ensure all is well in Delhi: HC on dengue,chikungunya

Expressing concern over the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya in the national capital last year, the Delhi High Court today asked the AAP government and the civic bodies as to who would ensure that "all is well" in Delhi this time around.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra also asked the Delhi government and the municipal corporations to give names of the officers who could be held liable to ensure that no dengue or chikungunya cases recur this year.
"Who will give a certificate that there will no cases of dengue and chikungunya in Delhi this time," it said and asked the counsel for all the authorities present in the courtroom whether the Lieutenant Governor, the Delhi Chief Secretary or the Commissioners of the three MCDs would be held liable to ensure this or whether it would be someone else.

"Who will go around Delhi and say that this time all is well in Delhi. Delhi is in safe hands," the bench remarked and said "we are concerned for the citizens of Delhi".
The court's observation came during hearing of two pleas accusing the AAP government and MCDs of not acting vigilantly and responsibly to control dengue and chikungunya outbreaks.
Highlighting that last year dengue and chikungunya were "fatal" in Delhi, the bench observed, "We are talking about the life of people here. Can you permit 21st century Delhi to be reeling under malaria, chikungunya, dengue?"

It said "we are happy to see that the Lieutenant Governor is taking steps to prevent rise in vector-borne diseases".

"But nothing will happen unless the senior officials of the authorities concerned make an effort to improve their work," it said, adding that it was personally aware of a cabinet minister, who use to take rounds of Delhi to ensure that the people are safe.
The bench said it wanted senior officers of authorities concerned to not just submit status reports by sitting in air- conditioned rooms but to visit the field and carry out physical monitoring also.
"We don't want a status report. We want an inspection report," it said.
It also said that last time, the hospitals had 2000 beds, and said this number should go up to 3000 beds to deal with the emergent situation.

The bench asked senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra, appearing for Delhi government, and the counsel for all the civic bodies to inform it by May 8 as to who will ensure safety and tell the court that this time there will be no cases of chikungunya and dengue.
Mehra, meanwhile, told the court that Delhi government has done mapping of dengue-prone areas and communicated them for timely action.
He said initiatives for creating public awareness this year were under process and wide publicity for preventive and other remedial measures will be circulated through the media.
Of the two petitions, one was filed by law student Gauri Grover who has 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 court had earlier asked the Centre and AAP government on the second PIL, filed by advocate Arpit Bhargava, to explain the steps taken by them to contain the disease while voicing concern over the rise of dengue cases.
As per the latest status report of South Delhi Municipal Corporation filed today, 80 cases of chikungunya and 30 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi in just four months since January 1. These cases were reported during this period even though the season for vector-borne diseases in Delhi is between July and December.
According to the data, 4,431 cases of dengue were reported in 2016 and the number of chikungunya cases stood at 9,749 -- one of the worst outbreaks of the disease till now.