Taking strong exceptions to the Bihar government's inability to rid Patna from constant water-logging problem, the Patna High Court on Monday blasted the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) accusing it of turning the city into a large slum with heightened health risks.
A division bench comprising Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad and Justice Ravi Ranjan, while hearing a PIL earlier filed by advocate Shyam Kishore Sharma, put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the PMC officials who, instead of finding a permanent solution to the perennial problem, were inventing excuses after excuses to hide their own ineptitude.
"Why don't you go to a temple and pray to the God to give less rain to Bihar?" Justice Prasad said angrily when the PMC counsel said the water-logging was the result of too much rain in the state.
The court ordered the PMC to start spraying DDT and bleaching powder in Patna at a massive scale to prevent an epidemic from breaking out. It also directed the government to provide free medical treatment and medicines to all those who may have been impacted by the unhygienic conditions in the city.
The next date of hearing has been set for August 11.
Source: Patnadaily.com 29/July/2008
