HC for quick actions by city corporations
Expressing grave concern and disappointment over the dengue outbreak, the High Court yesterday observed the situation has turned so alarming that every family is scared of Aedes mosquitoes that spread the disease.
Addressing the two Dhaka city corporations, the HC bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Md Shohrowardi said, “There are mosquitoes on one side and on the other, people are helpless. It’s up to you whether you use mosquito spray two or five times a day, but we want the mosquito menace to end. We want people to be saved from the [dengue] outbreak.”
The HC bench was holding a hearing on a suomoto (voluntary) rule issued on July 14.
The HC gave the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) four days to take effective steps to curb the menace and inform it about the progress.
“The mosquito menace was brought under control last year after the authorities used mosquito spray. This year, the situation, however, is not under control. A responsible minister has also reportedly said that the mosquito repellent is not effective this year. Earlier, nobody had confessed it,” the court said.
At one stage of the hearing, the lawyers for the DSCC and the DNCC promised that the city corporations would launch a “combined operation” to kill mosquitoes.
Both the DSCC and DNCC have already taken up crash programmes in this regard and that the joint effort will work, they said.
Barrister Toufiq Inam and Advocate Sayed Ahmed Raja, the lawyers for the DNCC and DSCC respectively, told the court the existing repellent was effective and that will be sprayed two to six times every day to bring the situation under control.
Now the spray is being used two times a day, they claimed, adding that at least a month is required to import new type of repellent maintaining the official procedures.
The lawyers prayed to the court to give three or four days to the DSCC and DNCC. It also requested the court to observe whether the combined effort was working.
In response, the HC bench asked the DSCC and the DNCC to inform the progress to the court on Tuesday when the next hearing is scheduled to be held.
Yesterday, the court also exonerated DSCC Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Md Sharif Ahmed and DNCC Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Md Mominur Rahman Mamun from personal appearance in connection with the rule.
The two appeared before the HC bench yesterday morning as per its July 22 order to explain the steps the DSCC and DNCC have taken to prevent the mosquito menace.
Brig Gen Sharif told the court that the menace was a global problem due to climate change and the country has experienced it due to heavy rain, among other issues.
He said there were 75 wards in 10 zones of the DSCC where more than one crore people live, but only 439 people had been working to prevent the menace.
Brig Gen Sharif claimed that their repellent was tested at two laboratories after its import and the results were satisfactory.
The court said dengue fever was a health concern and the health ministry along with the DSCC and DNCC should look into the matter.
Brig Gen Md Mominur Rahman Mamun told the court that the DNCC had planned to import new repellent to prevent the mosquito threat.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam also told the court that the dengue was a health concern for all and the matter should be taken seriously.
Meanwhile, another HC bench yesterday wanted to know whether private hospitals and diagnostic centres were charging extra for dengue tests.
The court also wanted to know whether government hospitals were conducting the tests for free.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Aahsan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader asked Deputy Attorney General Abdullah-Al-Mahmud Bashar to inform these to the court on Monday after communicating with the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services.
Private hospitals and diagnostic centres cannot charge extra for the examinations and the public hospitals must carry out the tests for free, it said.
The bench passed the order on a suomoto move following a report published in Bangla daily Prothom Alo yesterday.
Advocate Mushtaque Ahmed Chowdhury placed the newspaper report before the HC bench for necessary order. The court fixed Monday for passing further order on this issue.
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