Get cracking on public health, HC tells Goa

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa has ordered public health authorities in the state to discharge their duties with regard to timely removal of garbage and ensuring that stagnant water does not become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“The Goa Public Health Act envisages the authorities under the Act to issue directions to municipalities and panchayats in the state of Goa to ensure that garbage does not accumulate; cesspools are removed and measures taken to eradicate mosquitoes...

the statutory duties cast upon the authorities have to be complied with…,” stated a division bench comprising chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Mahesh Sonak.

The order was issued in response to a public interest petition filed by Atchut Dhond, a resident of Panaji, over the menace of mosquitoes leading to a sudden surge in cases of dengue and malaria.

Advocate Rui Gomes Pereira, representing the petitioner, told the court that there have been deaths due to dengue. He said that the water stagnating in drains and accumulated garbage are responsible for the breeding of dengue-causing mosquitoes, adding that the government is responsible for this.

The petition states that people have died of dengue in Vasco and that there were others infected with dengue at Dona Paula, Mapusa, Canacona and Margao, as well as malaria cases reported in Curchoren and Cacoda.

Although the directorate of health services and the state government claim they are working hard to arrest the spread of the diseases, the petitioner has stated that merely calling meetings of health authorities and fogging certain localities are not sufficient to produce the desired results.

The petitioner added that previous petitions filed in the court pertaining to garbage have not produced satisfactory results. He said nothing was observable, with regards to cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene in Panaji under the ‘Smart City’ programme, for which a substantial amount of public funds has been spent.