[Dengue outbreak] Policies are populist, governments scared of losing votes: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the city's three municipal corporations as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for their failure to control the spread of Dengue, whose numbers have doubled this year (South Delhi Municipal Corporation v Government of NCT of Delhi)..A Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh remarked that policies were being made in populist ways and that the governments were scared of doing anything that will lose them votes..During the hearing, counsel representing the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) asked the Court to pass an order to increase the monetary limit on challans that can be issued to residents. In response, the Bench remarked that the reason the Court is being asked to do this was because the authorities fear that if they do anything, people will not vote for them.“We agree that there should be a deterrent. In our society, people do not understand unless there is a deterrent. We cannot go and legislate on this issue… You have become so populist that you think if we do anything, people won’t vote for us. Policies are being made in a populist way,” the Bench remarked.Justice Sanghi added, "If Only elections were fought and won or lost on real issues, we would have a different city. It doesn’t work that way. Today they are being fought on what is free.".The Court noted that most drains in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation's (EDMC) area were open and the “stench is unbearable”.This is a very sorry state of affairs in the national capital, the Bench lamented. It added that there is a complete paralysis in civic administration as no one is bothered about the deaths, and officials are living with the attitude that since there is a large population, the disease will come and go.“Please understand that the number of people who have been caught with Dengue and the number of fatalities this year is unprecedented. It is not like Covid-19 that it was for the first time. How is it that despite having science and technology and machines and manpower this problem cannot be addressed? Since 2013. there have been orders passed by this Court, yet it is not under control,” Justice Singh said..Counsel appearing for the SDMC told the Court that the reason the dengue numbers were so high this year was because of the unprecedented rains in the month of October. He said that several Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) are not cooperating with the authorities when they visit for fogging and to keep a tab on mosquito breeding. He, therefore, demanded that directions be passed to restrain the RWAs from stopping the officials, and to increase the fine limit from ₹500 to 10,000 along with a right to collect the said fine on the spot.The Bench, however, said that it will not pass any such directions and if the authorities want, they can notify Dengue just as they did COVID-19.“All these things you are telling me are for you to do. It is not for us to do. We are not going to legislate,” the Court said..After noting the fact that several issues are to be looked into, including those surrounding diseases like Malaria and Chikungunya, the Court said it will appoint an amicus in the matter.It was suggested that an expert be appointed as amicus, but the Bench said that the issue will involve dealing with court processes and therefore only a lawyer will be appointed. However, the help of experts will be taken and even their suggestions and reports will be looked into, the Bench added..It directed that its orders be placed before the Chief Justice as another Bench was dealing with a similar matter.