HYDERABAD: Stating that the state of Telangana and the city of Hyderabad were almost facing a dengue epidemic, a division bench of the Telangana High Court on Saturday directed the state government and the GHMC to take steps for fogging and spraying of herbal insecticide on a war footing to control the spread of any epidemic.
The bench also said facts and figures on the issue must be placed before it. According to media reports, so far, about 60 persons have succumbed to dengue, and several people have been rushing to government hospitals, which are finding it difficult to tackle the large number of patients.
The authorities concerned are responsible for checking the spread of any epidemic. Needless to say, at the time of a calamity, every person, including members of the medical fraternity, are required to tackle the problem on a war footing, the bench noted.
Considering the inability of the government hospitals to deal with the large number of patients, the court hoped that the entire medical fraternity would rise to the occasion and take care of the patients.
“It is hoped that the private hospitals functioning not only in Hyderabad, but across the state, would take in the patients and treat them, and would ensure that as little number of people succumb to the dengue as possible,” the high court bench observed.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy, passed this order on a PIL filed by Dr M Karuna complaining against inaction of the authorities concerned in taking preventive steps against dengue fever in the state, and on a PIL which was taken up suo moto based on a letter addressed to the high court chief justice by advocate Rapolu Bhaskar, who pointed out lacunae in government hospitals in dealing with serious ailments like swine flu, dengue, typhoid and malaria.
The petitioners’ counsels, Kruthi Kalaga and K Pavan Kumar, pointed out that there were certain steps that should have been taken by the GHMC, such as fogging and spraying of herbal insecticide, to check the menace of dengue or any other epidemic.
State advocate general BS Prasad assured the court that the GHMC would take immediate steps for fogging the areas which were suffering due to presence of mosquitoes and where several people were falling ill due to dengue. He said the government has taken all measures to curtail the spread of dengue in the state.
All departments have been directed to work in coordination to prevent the spread of dengue. Due to the huge influx of patients into government hospitals, the doctors and other staff have not been able to handle the situation.
The government has even directed private hospitals to extend all necessary medical attention to needy patients who were either referred by government hospitals, or patients who approach private hospitals on their own.Prasad sought more time to submit a report on the issue.