By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun/Nainital, 28 Aug: The number of fresh cases of Corona might have come down significantly in Uttarakhand but the Nainital High Court is not convinced that Char Dham Yatra is safe.
At a hearing held, today, the High Court extended the ban it had imposed on the Char Dham Yatra till 18 August when the next hearing in this case will be held. It may be recalled that the government had initially opened the Char Dham Yatra for local residents of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts. However, the High Court had disallowed the Char Dham Yatra.
The Court today claimed that the danger of the third wave was looming large and the state did not have adequate health infrastructure to deal with it. The Court today sought several details from the Government before the next hearing. The Court has sought details on the position and status of paediatric wards and paediatric ventilators in the state. In addition, the Court has also asked for details on how many posts of nurses and ward boys and other support staff were vacant in the government hospitals across the state and update on the process of recruitment to fill these vacancies.
Besides this, the Court also sought information on the number of CovidDetla Plus variant cases detected in the state and the current position of the 300 samples of suspected cases of Delta Plus sent outside the state for testing. The Court also wanted to know what precautions had been taken to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.
Also, commenting on a recent announcement of the government increasing the stipend being paid to the medical interns, the Court directed the government to implement the same before the next hearing. It also directed that the stipend be paid on time. It observed that the provisions of the Anti-spitting and Anti-littering Act 2016 be strictly enforced in the state. It directed that the number of vaccination centres be increased and that the government carry out campaigns to make people aware of the importance of being vaccinated and clear the doubts and confusion of the people in this regard. It also directed arrangements for vaccination at home for the disabled and elderly who were not in a position to reach vaccination centres. The DMs were asked to make such arrangements. It further directed the administration to make special arrangements for those differently abled persons at vaccination centres, who were able to reach the centres. The Court observed that the state government had reserved 25 per cent beds for the weaker sections in hospitals, but had now withdrawn the said order on 25 July, and asked the government to reconsider its decision.
The court further summoned an audit report regarding the status of availability, facilities and capacity of ambulances available in all government hospitals in the state.
