Telangana HC pulls up state govt for inaction over dengue deaths

The Telangana High Court on Thursday pulled up the state government for failing to take steps to control the spread of dengue, which resulted in a crisis in September and caused the death of several people.

Issuing notices to the Telangana Chief Secretary S K Joshi and Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration & Urban Development) Arvind Kumar, the court asked the state why it had not taken any steps to tackle the crisis, despite being repeatedly pulled up for the same.

Chief Justice R S Chauhan was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by Dr M Karuna, who alleged inaction by the authorities, and another PIL taken up suo motu based on a letter to the Chief Justice from advocate Rapolu Bhaskar.

Speaking to a local media outlet, the petitioner's counsel said, "The High Court pulled up the state government for failing to control the dengue crisis and take any concrete steps. It is nothing but negligence from the side of the authorities. We brought all this to the notice to the court, which has now served a notice and asked senior officials to personally appear in court on Thursday."

The case was posted for further hearing on October 24.

Earlier this week,  Khammam’s sitting second additional first-class court judge, M Jayamma, passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad after being diagnosed with dengue. According to data accessed by TNM, the state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad alone saw a staggering 1,027 positive cases of dengue in September, compared to just 252 in August. As of October 21, the hospital has seen 424 positive cases and the death of five children.

Read: Dengue deaths continue in Telangana hospitals, even as swine flu concern begins

This is not the first time that the High Court has taken note of the crisis. On September 25, the court had expressed displeasure over the measures taken by the Health Department and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), and asked them to take all necessary measures to tackle the crisis within a month.