Civic bodies ‘doing nothing’ to control disease outbreak: Green tribunal

The green court also constituted a principal committee, which will be headed by Delhi chief secretary, to formulate an action plan to control the outbreak.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday slammed the three municipal corporations, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi government and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for not taking strong measures to control the spread of dengue and chikungunya in the capital.

Patients suspected to be suffering from chikungunya or dengue await medical treatment outside AIIMS hospital in New Delhi. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“What were you doing for the last two months, looks like you have no plan. Every one in Delhi is sick,” the panel headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar said.

The green court also constituted a principal committee, which will be headed by Delhi chief secretary, to formulate an action plan to control the outbreak.

The committee has been asked to submit a comprehensive report to the court within a fortnight. The committee has also been asked to conduct an urgent meeting on Thursday at 11am at the chief secretary’s office.

The green court also roped in Delhi Police to check and prevent breeding of mosquitoes in their areas.

The order came while hearing a petition by former Central Pollution Control Bureau (CPCB) scientist, Mahendra Pandey, which has stated that fogging is anti-environment and is causing more harm to residents.

“Chemical fogging can cause brain diseases, abortion and other diseases,” the petition read.

It has also directed the principal committee to look at NCR (National Capital Region including Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon) and seek help from the civic agencies there.

Read: Delhi’s dengue bluff: Just 4 died officially, but HT finds 19 in one locality