JOIN USHC slams BBMP over containment zones, summons official
Observing that the civic body has completely failed to implement the standard operating procedure (SOP) in containment zones, the high court directed the additional chief secretary of the Urban Development Authority to be present in person through video conferencing on Tuesday.
A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Alok Aradhe passed the order while hearing on a batch of petitions over issues surrounding Covid-19 on Monday.
In the last hearing, the bench had directed the government to file a compliance report on identifying the needy persons in the containment zones to ensure supply of food packets and ration, after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had consistently failed to submit the compliance report.
The bench had directed the Palike with specific identification of 900 families in need of food in containment zones.
The advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the BBMP has supplied one kit of food packet per family. The bench took serious objections to the affidavit filed by the civic body. At one point, the bench observed that the BBMP has been highly insensitive.
"Affidavit has been filed today by the BBMP Commissioner. If it is read as a whole, it is an affidavit for non-compliance. This insensitivity cannot go on. Is one carton of food sufficient for a family of 4-5 persons? They (BBMP) are so brazen that they do not follow any instructions," the bench orally observed.
The bench then decided to summon senior official of the government.
"After noticing the complete failure of the BBMP, the state was asked to step in and file an affidavit. The state has also not complied with the direction. In the normal course, this court is very slow in summoning senior government officials to the court. In this case, there is not only non-compliance of the direction, but there is also a defiance of the order on the part of the BBMP. We expected that the state would step in. However, the state has not done that. The only way to ensure enforcement of SOP is now to procure the presence of Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Development and BBMP Commissioner through video conferencing,’’ the bench ordered.
State asked to submit details on hospitals
The high court on Monday observed that the government has not answered certain vital questions. These questions include whether real-time online data is available on the availability of beds, beds with ventilators, whether a person can approach any designated laboratory for a test by himself, whether any timeline is fixed for getting test reports from various laboratories.
"The question is what is the time between the BBMP getting information about a positive report and shifting the patient to the hospital? We must note here that there are complaints received that the test reports are not available for days. There are instances where after making desperate attempts it is not possible to secure admission in hospital having bed and ventilator. In fact, we were told by the registrar administrator who struggled to get admitted a member of the staff of the High Court for a bed with a ventilator. Notwithstanding the efforts, he could not get a bed with the ventilator,’’ the bench said.