COVID-19 Spike In Odisha’s Twin Cities: HC Seeks Govt Reply On Sanitisation Steps In 15 Days

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has sought the state government’s reply on the steps being taken to ensure sanitisation and fogging of disinfectants in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, which have reported consistent rise in COVID-19 positive cases for the last few days, within 15 days.

The court issued the notice after hearing a petition filed by city-based lawyer Bijaya Kumar Ragada alleging negligence in implementation of COVID-19 guidelines and sanitisation measures in the Twin City. As the election to the two municipal bodies have not been conducted, there are no corporators to ensure the strict implementation, he reasoned and sought the Court’s direction to appoint Advocate Commissioners to take up the responsibility.

When the court took up the hearing of the case on Tuesday, it wanted to know the steps taken by the state government in this regard. As Advocate General sought time, a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice BR Sarangi posted the hearing of the case along with the government’s response to September 30.

Ragada in his petition also sought the HC’s direction to the government to set up at least one COVID clinic for two wards and depute regular doctors and other employees in the health facilities. But the court did not want to interefere in the matter, leaving it to the government to deal with the situation.