New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) The BJP-ruled municipal corporations "miserably" failed to check mosquito breeding but the Delhi government's hospitals are fully prepared for dengue and chikungunya outbreak, Health Minister Satyendar Jain told the assembly on Friday.
The state government started making preparations to check dengue and other vector-borne diseases way back in March, he said.
Jain said it is the job of municipal corporations to maintain sanitation and check mosquito-breeding, at which they have "miserably" failed.
"But when it comes to treatment of patients, that is where Delhi government's role comes," Jain said adding that Delhi's hospitals are fully prepared.
He said that hospitals coming under Delhi government have over 10,000 beds out of which, around 1,000 beds are still available for public despite a large spike in the number of patients.
Jain said that Delhi government also permitted private hospitals, which collectively have 25,000 beds, to temporarily increase number of beds by 10 to 15 per cent to ensure no fever patients are turned away.
"We can proudly say today that no patient has been turned away in Delhi government's hospitals... There is still no shortage of beds," he said.
Taking on the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs), Jain said that dengue and chikungunya are diseases for which prevention is possible.
"The only way to prevent them is to check breeding of mosquitoes. During the last assembly session that we had held on sanitation, some MLAs had suggested that MCDs are intentionally spreading garbage in the city," he said.
"While it was hard to believe, but now it seems to be true. They are doing so in the false hope that people of Delhi will blame Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for their failure... Delhi is now perhaps the dirtiest city in the country," he added.
Jain said the primary job of the MCDs is sanitation and they have failed at it.
"The prime minister of their party had started the Swachh Bharat mission. And now the very same party has shamed him by miserably failing his flagship programme.
"That is because their focus is on cleaning the pockets, not cleaning the city," he said.
Jain said that the people of Delhi will give a befitting response to the Bhartiya Janata Party by ensuring that they don't win even three seats in the upcoming MCD elections.
The AAP-dominated, 70-member Delhi assembly has three BJP MLAs.
