“Prevent spread of dengue at Games sites”

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to send their health officers to the Commonwealth Games sites to make an on-the-spot assessment of the health of labourers working there and take measures to prevent spread of dengue and malaria.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan issued the direction when the petitioner in the matter informed it that there was a threat of malaria and dengue to the labourers due to collection of water at some of these sites. The Bench has been hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Peoples' Union for Democratic Rights alleging violations of labour laws and absence of safety gears for labourers at the sites.

The Court had earlier asked the Government to prepare a register of these workers, open bank accounts in their names and pay their wages through cheques and make available facilities at the work sites for their medical care, for care of their children when they were working and maintain proper sanitation.

The Court had passed these directions after going through a report submitted to it by a committee constituted by it to visit the sites and file a report.

The Committee further said though basic safety gears were issued to these workers at majority of the sites visited by it, the workers were generally found working without them. The wages ranging from Rs.300 to Rs.800 of some of those workers who used the safety gears were deducted, the report alleged.