The Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Association (APCLA) filed an interlocutory application in the High Court seeking a direction to the State government to update its disaster management plan in order to tackle the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the affidavit, APCLA joint secretary Boddepalli Mohan Reddy said the government has not prepared an action plan as per Sections 11 and 23 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
“As per the website of the A.P. State Disaster Management Authority, a State plan was last prepared in 2017-18. It was a legal duty cast upon the State government to update its earlier plan to deal with the prevailing situation,” the affidavit said.
“Experts predict that the second wave of COVID would last for around three months during which up to 10 lakh cases are likely to be registered in the country per day,” Mr. Mohan Reddy said.
APCLA has already filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court questioning the inaction of the State government in implementing the guidelines issued by the Central government on March 23.
The petitioner’s counsel P. Suresh Kumar mentioned that the national task force of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission presented a grim scenario and made a slew of recommendations to be strictly implemented.
