‘Incapacitated medical infrastructure’: Allahabad HC raps UP govt, directs lockdown in 5 cities

“One would only laugh at us that we have enough to spend on elections and very little for public health.” the court observed.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to strictly enforce the closure of all establishments (government or private) in five cities till April 26, 2021. The restriction will be applicable in Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar and Gorakhpur.

“It appears that the pandemic is teasing the system in a situation where patients have outnumbered the hospital beds,” the court stated. (AP)

“The recent surge of Covid-19 pandemic has virtually incapacitated all our medical infrastructure in the State of UP and especially in cities like Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur,” the court stated.

However, financial institutions and departments, medical and health services, industrial and scientific establishments, essential services including municipal functions, and public transport will be exempt from the curbs. The court clarified that it is not imposing a complete lockdown in the state by its order.

The bench comprising justice Siddhartha Varma and justice Ajit Kumar observed, “Above directions are nowhere close to a complete lockdown. We are conscious of the fact that before imposing a lockdown the concerned government has to work out various modalities. In this order, if we have not imposed a lockdown it does not mean that we do not believe in it. We are still of the view that if we want to break the chain, a lockdown for a duration of at least two weeks is a must.”

“We, therefore, once again in addition to the directions we have already given, direct the government to consider the imposition of a complete lockdown in the entire state for at least a period of two weeks. This would not only break the chain of the spread of the virus but would also give respite to health workers,” the bench added.

The bench passed the order in a suo moto PIL on conditions of quarantine centres in the state and treatment of Covid-19 patients. The court further directed the state government to ensure grocery shops and other commercial shops, excluding medical shops, with more than three workers remain closed till April 26, 2021. Likewise, all malls, shopping complexes, restaurants, eateries shall remain close till April 26.

Further, with respect to the five cities, all religious places shall also remain shut for the period and no social function except weddings should be allowed. However, no more than 25 people will be allowed in case of wedding functions without the permission of the concerned district magistrate.

Vegetable and milk hawkers will be allowed to sell goods on road only till 11 am and all public movement on roads will be restricted completely subject to these directions. Public movement is also permitted by the court in case of medical help and emergencies.

On the rise in the number of Covid-19 patients, the beach said, “it appears that the pandemic is teasing the system in a situation where patients have outnumbered the hospital beds and people are just running from pillar to post and in this process attendants of patients are not only getting infected but others in public are also getting infected and a complete chain has got formed.”

During the hearing, the court was informed that the state government is taking steps to increase the number of beds for patients such as three makeshift hospitals with 1,000 beds at Lucknow and to increase 20 beds per day in Prayagraj.

On this, the court observed, “One would only laugh at us that we have enough to spend on elections and very little to spend on public health…. One cannot even imagine what will happen if only 10% of the city population gets infected and needs medical help in hospitals. How the government will manage with the presently existing infrastructure is anybody’s guess.”

“Economy, economy and economy is the only tune that the government is all the time harping upon but if you take bread and butter to a person who needs oxygen and medication, it will be of no use to him. You may have grocery shops full of eatables and industries which produce bikes and cars but all this won’t be of any use if your medical shops run out of stock of life-saving drugs like Remdesivir in the current surge of the pandemic. It is a shame that while the government knew of the magnitude of the second wave, it never planned things in advance,” the bench observed.

On Panchayat election conducted during the pandemic, the bench observed, “We must record our displeasure at the way government and the State Election Commission proceeded to hold elections forcing teachers and other government staff to perform duties exposing themselves to the threat of pandemic that looms large these days. The police were virtually shifted to polling places giving priority to election above public health.”

“Further, the photographs of the various places where elections were held show that no social distancing was maintained. Also, we find that on many occasions in various political rallies masks were never worn by people,” the court said while directing authorities to take actions against erring organisers of political events and place the action by the next date of hearing on April 26.

On delay in providing Covid-19 test reports to patients, the bench said, “We have been informed that people are developing influenza-like infections in every fifth house of every Mohalla in the city and tracking-tracing and testing system, if not failed, has certainly not been able to meet the requirement of the population of the

city. Reports are neither updated before 72 hours nor are samples taken care of, owing to shortage of manpower. Only VVIPs are getting reports within 6-12 hours. Thus early testing scheme or plan is a farce.”

The court said that if in any civilised society, the public health system is unable to meet the challenges and people die for want of proper medication, it means there has been no proper development.

“Health and education go side-by-side. Those in the helm of affairs of governance are to be blamed for the present chaotic health problems and more so when there is a democracy which means a government of the people, by the people and for the people,” the bench observed.

Uttar Pradesh, one of the worst-hit states from the pandemic, has reported a total of over 8.5 lakh Covid-19 cases till date with over 9,800. Over 6.5 patients have recovered from the deadly contagion in the state so far.