After PIL cites TOI reports to stress dengue cases rising, Uttarakhand HC asks state government to respond

NAINITAL: Uttarakhand high court on Friday asked the state government to submit a reply regarding rampant rise in dengue cases across the state. A PIL in this regard was filed by Rohit Dhyani, a resident of Dehradun, who cited TOI reports stating that the number of dengue patients in the state were rising at an alarming rate.
Dhyani, who is a lawyer, told TOI, “I was disturbed at the horrific outbreak of the disease across the state.This can be stopped only if proactive and effective preventive measures are being taken which the state government has not implemented so far.”
He also requested the court to issue show-cause notices to the officials responsible for controlling the outbreak asking them as to why action should not be taken against them for “criminal negligence of duty resulting in death and deprivation of quality of life of innocent people.”
Citing TOI reports on the subject which he attached as an annexure to the petition, Dhyani alleged that extensive coverage had been done throughout August, September and first half of October about the widespread outbreak of the disease in Dehradun and other parts of the state.
“The newspaper reports have indicated that the government of Uttarakhand and Union of India through its various programmes was not at all equipped to tackle the widespread disease. The weakest and most vulnerable sections of the society are being particularly affected,” he said adding that this year, Dehradun had faced “the worst dengue crisis in five years primarily because the city’s civic body had failed to discharge its duties.”
“There is an urgent need to set up up a medical commission for the purpose of finding out the basic cause of the sudden outbreak of the disease in Uttarakhand, monetary compensation to the legal heirs of the victims of the epidemic, formulation of a scheme for prevention of dengue and adequate supply of medicines, food etc and further social welfare measures as necessary,” he said.