A social activist has approached the Supreme Court asking why the Court took up only the case of Delhi for eradicating the menace of dengue and chikungunya and dismissed a PIl three months ago that sought a pan-India approach to rid the country of these mosquito-borne diseases.
The petitioner NGO Voice of India through its Chairman Dhanesh Ieshdhan showed instances to suggest that the cases of dengue and chikungunya were reported not just in Delhi but also from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan Assam, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The PIl remained pending in Court for almost a year and on July 11, 2016 was dismissed by the apex court after the Court told the petitioner that the prayer made in the petition had to be enforced by the municipal authorities.
One of the judges who was present on the bench that dismissed the petitioner's PIl later was part of the bench that recently ordered the civic agencies, Delhi Government and Centre to join hands together to rid Delhi of the accumulated garbage, seen as one of the causes aiding and abetting the spread of dengue, chikungunya and other vector-borne diseases.
On October 6, the bench of Justices Madan B lokur and Amitava Roy directed heads of all concerned agencies to have a meeting to form consensus on tackling dengue and chikungunya. Among other directions, it said, “The participants will discuss effective ways to have the garbage cleared so that standards of sanitation and hygiene are maintained in and around Delhi.”
Finding this order to relate only to Delhi even as the problem persisted in other states as well, the petitioner Voice of India has sought a recall of the Court's earlier order dismissing the petition. The application of recall filed by the petitioner NGO asked the Court to consider the request to frame a “uniform and time bound programme” to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases and asking all States, Union Territories to comply with the same.