Form teams to monitor Covid-19 cases, high court tells Uttarakhand government

DEHRADUN: Even as the present Covid wave recedes and the government prepares for a massive vaccination drive for the 18-plus age group through CoWin app, the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday ordered the state government to conduct door-to-door surveillance across 13 districts of the state, especially in remote villages.

“Unless surveillance is carried out on a war footing, it will be difficult to stop the onslaught of a third wave. This is war and we cannot leave our last man behind,” said a division bench of Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma.

The court directed the government to form teams comprising nurses, home guards, and ASHA workers for each district which will go door-to-door to check if people have any Covid symptoms and also gather data of vaccinated people in households. The court also asked the government to form a ‘district task force’ to address the digital divide in the state.

Dushyant Mainali, one of the counsels in the PILs said, “The court directed the government to take stock of people who are underprivileged, do not have identity cards, and cannot get vaccines for themselves.” The court while hearing the PIL also came down heavily on the Secretary, Tourism, Uttarakhand.

Questioning the Secretary, the court asked how he could, sitting in his “cocoon” in Dehradun, decide that all is well for tourism to reopen in the state. Earlier, last month the court had directed the Secretary to visit places such as Kedarnath shrine and others and then decide about reopening tourism in the state. Taking note of complaints of overcharging for vaccines, the court directed the government to take action in the matter.