As the dengue and chikungunya outbreak in Delhi worsened, killing 10 people in 24 hours, the Arvind Kejriwal government and the BJP-led Centre have entered a blame game over the massive health crisis. Health minister Satyendra Jain said a probe has been ordered into the deaths from chickungunya.
Here are the 10 updates in this big story:
Over the last 24 hours, 5 people died in Chikungunya, a mosquito borne disease. The toll in dengue has gone up from five to 10.The MCD says so far, 1,057 cases of chikungunya have been reported. But Delhi's AIIMS alone has reported 1,360 cases, the Apollo hospital, 775 and the Safdurjang hospital, 531.
In a tweet late on Tuesday evening, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said, "4 Deaths due to Chikangunia reported from one pvt hospital (Ganga Ram). No death in any Delhi govt hospital . Enquiry ordered."
The minister also said there was no outbreak of chikungunya in the city and medically, the disease can never be the cause of anyone's death.
With both diseases being vector-borne which occurs around this time of the year, the Delhi government has been criticized for failing to take measures to prevent mosquito breeding, like fogging and door-to-door sensitization.
"Delhi government has not shown seriousness. We have given them all support. Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and many ministers are out of city. Elected government has to take responsibility," Union Health Minister JP Nadda said.
Mr Nadda also blamed Mr Kejriwal and Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Jain for being out of Delhi during the crisis. While Mr Kejriwal is in Bengaluru for throat surgery, Mr Jain was in Goa for three days, overseeing AAP's preparations for assembly elections next year.
His party, the BJP, has demanded Mr Kejriwal's resignation for failing to control the outbreak.
On his part, Mr Kejriwal had tweeted this morning, saying, "CM n min left wid no power now, even to buy a pen. LG n PM enjoy all powers wrt Del. LG abroad. Question them for Del (sic)."
He was backed up by Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain, who returned from Goa this evening. "We were thoroughly prepared to tackle dengue and chikungunya. Measures had been taken three to four months in advance. The hospitals under Delhi government are separate from those belonging to the Centre," he said.
Three-time Chief Minister, Congress's Sheila Dikshit said, "What is happening is that you (Mr Kejriwal) are resorting to a blame game because you didn't do anything to pre-empt or prevent this kind of an outbreak."
