'Draw action plan to tackle encephalitis': HC to UP, Centre

The court fixed October 8 as the next date of hearing on the matter.

Allahabad, Sep 18: With the death of due to encephalitis having sharply risen in the last few months, the Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to come up with an action plan to tackle the menace.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma passed the order on a bunch of petitions filed by Suneeta Sharma and others who had demanded a judicial probe into the recent deaths of more than 30 children within a span of 48 hours at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College.

The children, many of them afflicted with encephalitis, had reportedly died because of lack of adequate supply of oxygen at the hospital attached to the medical college.

The court fixed October 8 as the next date of hearing on the matter and asked the Centre and the state to submit their proposed action plan to deal with the menace.

PTI