In an important order, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to undertake COVID-19 testing of all Bhopal gas tragedy survivors who approach the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) for their treatment.
The order by a two-member bench of Chief Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal and judge Vijay Kumar Shukla noted that the advocate general of Madhya Pradesh (Purushaindra Kaurav) has assured the court that necessary instructions will be issued to the administration and doctors of the BMHRC in this regard.
The High Court's order comes while disposing a petition by a Bhopal gas tragedy survivor (who has since died) and the survivors' organisation Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA). The petition was originally filed to seek resumption of treatment facilities for the gas tragedy survivors at the BMHRC. The state government meanwhile had revoked its order to reserve BMHRC as a COVID-19 designated centre which meant that gas tragedy survivors with regular ailments could not be treated at the hospital.
While disposing the petition, the court took note of the point made by Naman Nagrath, the counsel for the petitioners, that seven deaths had been reported in Bhopal due to COVID-19 and all of them were gas tragedy survivors. The court noted that given the vulnerability of the survivors to the infection, testing of all those approaching the BMHRC should be done.
Rachna Dhingra of BGIA told THE WEEK that about 3.5 lakh survivors are registered with the BMHRC and about 1,000 approach the hospital and its seven mini-units every day through OPDs. The court order will facilitate the testing of these survivors and early detection could help in managing the infection well among this vulnerable group of Bhopal citizens, she said.
Ujjain police inspector dies
In another tragic development, a police inspector who was in-charge of Nilganga police station in Ujjain succumbed to the COVID-19 complications at an Indore hospital on Tuesday morning. Yashwant Pal, 59, contracted the infection while on duty and had been hospitalised for 10 days. This is the second death of a field police officer in Madhya Pradesh in 48 hours. Earlier, a police station in-charge in Indore had died of the infection.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that a security amount of Rs 50 lakh will be paid to the family of the officer and that his daughter will be appointed in the department. The officer will be posthumously awarded with Karmavir honor.
Ex-chief minister Kamal Nath, while paying homage to the deceased cop, reiterated the demand that all frontline workers battling COVID-19 pandemic be provided with quality protective gear without any delay.
Meanwhile, the Bhopal-based office of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Madhya Pradesh police was closed down on Tuesday till further orders after the driver of EOW Director General Rajeev Tandon tested positive. The driver's son is also a cop who was infected earlier. More than 50 personnel of EOW including the DG will remain in isolation for the customary period, officials said.
