HC notice to Centre, TN govt on animal-borne diseases

Madras High Court has issued notices to the Tamil Nadu and central governments on a PIL seeking remedial measures for preventing health hazards posed by wild animals to people residing in the offshoots of Western Ghats in the state.
First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice TS Sivagnanam directed them to explain the steps taken for preventing animal-borne health hazards, saying that the issue raised in the PIL was an important one.
It directed the state health and family welfare secretary and the forest and environment secretary to consider within two months the May 30 representation by petitioner AR Gokulakrishan of Poolathur, in Kodaikkanal Taluk, to take remedial steps for preventing animal-borne health hazards.

The petitioner, a social activist, submitted that Indian Gaurs, which used to cause extensive damage to the standing crops, have started invading human settlements and are also bringing and spreading mysterious endemic diseases like rhipicephalus and Rocky Mount Spotted Fever (RMSF), which causes severe itching.
He claimed that more than 50 per cent of women and children were suffering from sores caused by lice breeding on the Indian Gaurs.