Preventive measures: Govt issued notice on dengue plea

Petitioner contended Punjab government failed to eliminate dengue mosquito larvae as poor quality pesticide was used.

LAHORE:

Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed of the Lahore High Court on Friday sought a reply from the Punjab government on a petition accusing it of laxity in implementing dengue prevention measures.

The court issued notices to the government for next week to answer questions raised through the petition about the government’s responsibilities under Article 9 of the Constitution to protect citizens’ lives.

Petitioner Muhammad Azhar Siddique contended that the district government and the Punjab government had failed to eliminate dengue mosquito larvae as it had used poor quality pesticide.

He expressed concern that a new dengue epidemic was about to break out. He said that a dengue case had already been reported on February 22, though the Health Department has said that the patient was suffering from typhoid, not dengue.

Siddique asked the court to direct the government to take preventive measures and to submit a report on what it had done so far this year to avoid an outbreak like last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2012.