“The Chief Minister has directed that it should be ensured that lack of funds is not used as an ‘excuse’ by the Municipal Corporations for any lack of preparation on their part for preventing the outbreak of vector-borne diseases in Delhi,” said a statement issued by the Delhi government.
This money will be utilised to make the necessary preparations to deal with any outbreak of vector-borne diseases. (Representational Image: iStock)
With the monsoon having arrived in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday directed the Urban Development (UD) department to release Rs109 crore to three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs).
This money will be utilised by the three local bodies to make the necessary preparations to deal with any outbreak of vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya among others during and after the monsoon.
“The Chief Minister has directed that it should be ensured that lack of funds is not used as an ‘excuse’ by the Municipal Corporations for any lack of preparation on their part for preventing the outbreak of vector-borne diseases in Delhi,” said a statement issued by the Delhi government.
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According to the government’s statement, Rs 57.15 crore would be released to the North Corporation, Rs 28.40 crore to the East Corporation, and Rs 23.57 crore to the South Corporation, which adds up to Rs 109 crore.
The CM also directed the Urban Development department to take all necessary steps to ensure proper utilisation of these funds so that preventive steps, including house-to-house visits by the MCDs staff to check the spread of mosquitoes, spraying, etc, are carried out thoroughly and in time.
Kejriwal directed the UD department to strictly inform the three MCDs that the maintenance of public health is their mandatory function as defined in the Delhi Municipal Corporations (DMC) Act.
In addition to this move, the Delhi government would also release funds for primary education to the three MCDs, which would include “Rs 12.50 crore to the North MCD, Rs 22.50 crore to the East MCD and Rs 11.75 crore to the south MCD”.
South Delhi Corporation’s Mayor Sunita Kangara had recently said that the councillors would sit on strike outside the CM’s house if pending funds were not released within a week.
She had said that the anti-malaria mechanism of South Corporation was “woefully” short of funds and that stocks of fumigants and other medicines were also running low.
North Corporation Mayor Avtar Singh also recently met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to request him to issue directions to the Delhi government for the release of pending funds to the civic body.
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