With the mercury rising at an alarming rate and the fear of outbreak of vector-borne diseases looming large over the national Capital, the Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government and the civic bodies to ensure that no dengue or chikungunya cases occur this year in the Capital.
“You (Government and civic bodies) must ensure that this time the last year happenings do not occur again,” a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said. The court also asked the agencies to inform it on the preventive steps they have taken in comparison to last year with regard to curbing breeding of dengue mosquitoes. Expressing concern over the numerous deaths in 2016, the Bench said the authorities concerned should have a policy instead of shifting the blame on each other to stop recurrence of mosquito-borne tropical diseases.
It directed the Government and municipal bodies to place before it the action taken report explaining the steps proposed to be taken by them to control vector-borne diseases. It fixed the matter for May 1.
The court has been hearing pleas accusing the AAP Government and MCDs of not acting vigilantly and responsibly to control dengue and chikungunya. Four dengue deaths and as many as 1,158 dengue and 1,057 chikungunya cases were reported in the national Capital till September 10 last year.