Supreme Court: The top court asked the four states for a report on the steps taken to ease the situation.
"Worse things will happen in December if states aren't well prepared," the Supreme Court warned today as it sought status reports from Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam in two days over the spike in coronavirus cases in these states.
"We are hearing of a huge spike in the current month. We want a latest status report from all states. Worse things may happen in December if states aren't well prepared," the top court said, asking the four states for a report on the present situation, management of patients and steps taken to ease the situation.
A three-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subash Reddy and MP Shah, which heard the issue as the court took up on its own, said the Covid situation in Delhi "worsening". "What is the present situation? What extra efforts you are taking? We have to look into it," the top court told the Delhi government.
The Delhi government subsequently informed the court about the steps taken to control the situation in the capital.
"The situation this month is likely to further worsen and these states have to gear up for action to combat the worsening situation," the court said, adding that immediate steps required by all states and the Union of India.
The centre told court about the measures taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to control coronavirus cases. "Delhi has to answer lot of things," it said, passing the buck to the Arvind Kejriwal government.
Delhi has been struggling to contain the surge in coronavirus cases that have crossed 5.29 lakh, making it the sixth-worst-hit state.
The Gujarat government too was slammed by the top court. "The Gujarat situation is next to Delhi. Worse situation. What action has been taken? What is happening in your state? What steps are you taking with respect to political events?" the court said.
Gujarat has seen a recent spike in its virus cases, forcing the state government to impose night curfew in cities such as Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara. The Vijay Rupani government also decided not to reopen schools and colleges today.
Maharashtra, meanwhile, continues to be the state with the highest number of Covid cases. The caseload has crossed 17.8 lakh with 5,753 new cases on Sunday.
The Supreme Court will take up the case next on November 27.
India is currently the world's second-worst-hit country by the pandemic, with over 91.39 lakh total Covid cases, including over 1.33 lakh deaths.