While the State Government has failed in restricting the spread of dengue in the State, a petition was filed in the Odisha HC on Tuesday seeking a direction to the State Government to launce a special drive to get control over the situation. The special drive should also encompass forming a team of senior doctors to exclusively treat the dengue patients so that no further casualties occur due to the viral disease.
Cuttack Mahanagar Peace Committee vice-president Manoranjan Sahu filed the PIl expressing grave concern over the callousness of the State Government in tackling the menace particularly in Cuttack city, which is threatening to assume epidemic form.
The petition filed through advocate Dayanidhi lenka also urged the court to constantly monitor the activities of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) in respect of basic amenities it is providing like health, hygiene and sanitation through a supervising committee comprising members from different walks of life. Alleging that the CMC has been a habitual offender in showing disrespect to judiciary, the petitioner has attached at least five orders of the HC to the CMC, which have not been complied with even after repeated reminders.
The petition also citing yet another order of the High Court alleged that had the orders of the HC been complied with earlier, a young girl of the city would not have died due to dengue this year.
Refuting the recent statement of the State Health Secretary that no dengue casualties has been reported in the State this year, the petitioner advocate pointed out that a 16-year-old girl namely Shrabani Das of Rausapatna in the city died due to the disease last week. lenka also stated that the Government should now fix responsibility on those for whom a young girl met an untimely death and the Govt should pay damage to the family of the victim.