"Do not make a person to come to the court before you (DSIB and MCD) finally act...Let the person concerned (Chief Engineer of DUSIB) appear in person next Monday," said Chief Justice D Murugesan.
The bench, also comprising Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, asked the civic bodies to file a status report by October 15, the next date of hearing, on steps taken by it to ensure healthy living conditions at Indira Kalyan Vihar slum at Okhla in South Delhi.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Conference For Human Rights India (CFHRI) through advocate Nanita Sharma alleging South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and the DUSIB were "passing the buck" to each other, while shying away from their duty to ensure hygienic living conditions there.
The PIL has sought a direction to the civic bodies "to ensure clean, hygienic living conditions of the inhabitants of the slum at Indira Kalyan Vihar" as all drains in the area were found open and clogged.
"The whole slum colony stands by thick swarm of flies carrying germs of all types of diseases and posing risk of outbreak of an epidemic...
"Apart from the flies, what could be more infecting for the slum dwellers is a flurry of buzzing mosquitoes in every nook and corner of the slum, posing a great risk of outbreak of a lot of deadly diseases like malaria, dengue, chicken guinea, etc," the petition alleged, adding that no action has been taken so far by the authorities.
