The Delhi High Court Monday sought the presence of a senior official of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) Oct 15 to explain the steps taken by the city’s civic bodies in ensuring hygienic conditions at a slum here.
Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said: “Do not make a person come to the court before you (DUSIB and MCD) finally act… let the person concerned (chief engineer of DUSIB)… appear in person next Monday.”
The court asked the civic agencies to file a status report by Oct 15, the next date of hearing.
The court’s direction came on a PIL filed by NGO Conference For Human Rights India (CFHRI) alleging South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and the DUSIB were “passing the buck on each other in their bid to shy away from their duty to provide hygienic conditions at a slum in Indira Kalyan Vihar, Okhla here”.
Advocate Nanita Sharma filing the PIL sought a direction to the civic agencies “to ensure clean, hygienic living conditions of the inhabitants of the slum at Indira Kalyan Vihar” as all drains in the area were found open and clogged.
The petition stated: “The whole slum colony stands by thick swarm of flies carrying germs of all types of diseases posing risks for the outbreak of an epidemic.”
The petition also alleged that no-action has been taken so far by the authorities.
“Apart from the flies what could be more infecting for the slum dwellers is a flurry of buzzing mosquitoes in every nook and corner of the slum, posing a great risk of outbreak of a lot of deadly diseases like malaria, dengue, chikungunya, etc,” the plea said.
