Allahabad HC takes note of rising dengue cases in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has taken a serious note of increasing cases of dengue in the state capital.

The court directed the health department, Lucknow Municipal Corporation, additional chief secretary (Health) and the chief medical officer to apprise it of the steps taken by them to check the menace of vector-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya, and viral fever.

A division bench of Justices Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Saurabh Srivastava was hearing a PIL filed by Ashish Kumar Mishra.

"Learned counsel representing these parties shall be appropriately briefed as to what effective steps are being taken/have been taken by the state authorities and the municipal authorities not only for prevention of spread of such vector borne diseases but also for providing adequate medical facilities to patients suffering from such diseases," the court said.

It further noted that "learned Members of the Bar (of HC) in unanimous voice, have expressed their concern about the manner in which the vector borne diseases are spreading in the city of Lucknow and have also apprised the court that the situation in the state-run hospitals is so grim that it is difficult, rather almost impossible, to get an appropriate hospital bed if a person needs the same".

The court also directed Deputy Solicitor General of India, S.B. Pandey, who represents the Union government in the Lucknow bench, to apprise the court of the steps taken by highest authority of the Central Government Health Scheme and the railway hospital administration in Lucknow for treatment of patients suffering from vector-borne diseases.