Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Updated : September 25, 2015 2:43 PM IST
Dengue has been wrecking havoc in the capital city for a while now. The number of positive cases has reached around 3000 and according to latest reports, the death toll has reached 30. The government had previously claimed that it was ready to tackle the dengue situation but lack of infrastructure in various hospital due to which many patients were denied admission and treatment followed by steep rise in dengue diagnostic tests just reveal how prepared the government is.
Now, the Delhi government has informed theDelhi High Court on Thursday that Rs.60 crore has been released to the three municipal corporations for sanitation programmes to deal with the dengue outbreak. Of the total budget allocation of Rs.81.52 crore towards malaria and dengue control programmes, approximately Rs.60 crore has been released by the Delhi government, a division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath was informed.The first installment of grant-in-aid amounting to 25 percent of the total funds was allocated to the three corporations on September 17, said Delhi government counsel Rahul Mehra. (Read: 7 complications of dengue that you ought to know)
The second installment of 50 percent was released on September 22, he said.The bench also asked the civic agencies to file comprehensive affidavits on steps taken by them on the issue by September 29, the next date of hearing. The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed to control dengue.A plea filed by Congress leader Ajay Maken accused the Aam Aadmi Party government and municipal corporations of not being vigilant and responsible to control dengue.Maken said the Delhi government failed to initiate awareness campaigns and an outbreak alarm was raised only after dengue fatalities were reported, which is otherwise not a life-threatening disease. (Read: 10 step guide for speedy recovery from dengue.)
It said the Delhi government allocated Rs.81.52 crore towards malaria and dengue control programmes. However, it did not bother to release the funds to the municipal corporations.Citing lack of funds as an alibi for their gross failure in controlling dengue outbreak, these agencies rendered the general public completely helpless, the petition said. (Read: Other measures that can be employed to prevent dengue)
Source: IANS
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