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  NGT slams government on mosquito menace

NGT slams government on mosquito menace

PTI
Published : Dec 1, 2015, 1:22 am IST
Updated : Dec 1, 2015, 1:22 am IST

With city residents facing constant threat of dengue and malaria, the National Green Tribunal on Monday slammed the Delhi government and civic authorities here for their lackadaisical approach on the

With city residents facing constant threat of dengue and malaria, the National Green Tribunal on Monday slammed the Delhi government and civic authorities here for their lackadaisical approach on the issue.

“You have to do something. It can’t be left like this. You can’t allow malaria and dengue to spread like this in the city. Go and inspect the area in question and file status report,” a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

“We direct DDA, revenue department of NCT of Delhi, health department of NCT of Delhi and SDMC to conduct a joint inspection of the area and file status report with regard to the status of land, nature of land, floating of water (polluted or otherwise) and steps that public authority should take to ensure that there is no health hazards resulting from such floated of water,” the bench said.

It directed them to file the status report within three weeks from Monday and posted the matter for next hearing on January 11, 2016.

The green panel directed the flood and irrigation department of the Delhi government, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to inspect the area and submit their report with regard to status of land and the quality of water that is accumulated near the colony.

The observations came while hearing a plea by a housing society, Kalindi Residents Welfare Associ-ation, which had claimed that swamps and marshy lands, which were lying idle without development, behind the Kalindi Colony were acting as breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“A large tract of marshy land behind Kalindi Colo-ny has turned into a swa-mp putting residents at risk of diseases such as dengue and malaria wh-ile agencies like the flood and irrigation department, DDA and SDMC were shifting their responsibilities,” the plea submitted.

The SDMC, in an affidavit filed before the tribunal, had said that it had taken various measures to prevent mosquito breeding near the site in question.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi