Allahabad HC raps UP government over dengue toll

Lucknow, Oct 18 (IANS) The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has rapped the Akhilesh Yadav government for poor work in controlling the menace of dengue, for not spending central funds and for faking statistics on the death toll in the vector-borne disease.

At a hearing on Monday, the High Court not only expressed its displeasure on the statistics submitted to it but also said it did not trust the data following which it has decided to form its own committee of experts to look into the matter.

A bench of Justice A.P. Shahi and Justice D.K. Upadhyaya observed that while the court has time it has again given chances to the health department and concerned official over the matter.

The court further directed the state government to submit a fresh report on the toll of deaths caused by dengue on October 25 and also suggest names of the people it deems fit to be part of the expert committee.

The court said the affidavits given by the Principal Secretary (health), Secretary (urban development), Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Lucknow and other urban body representatives was only "paperwork" and an eyewash.

More than 200 people have reportedly died due to dengue in the city alone and more than 2,000 are said to be tested positive for it but the state agencies are not admitting of the casualties. It would have been better had the government and authorities worked in curbing the menace rather than giving fake statistics, the court said.

Initially, the state government had said there were no deaths due to dengue but later amended the toll and told the court that the number stood at 9.

However, the court said this was the figure of government hospitals and has asked details of the many reported deaths in private hospitals.

The High Court has also come down heavily on the state government for not spending the funds issued by the central government to control the disease.