Shelter home deaths: HC orders Jal Board to test water quality

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5

The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered the Delhi Government’s Social Welfare Secretary to personally visit the city government-run Asha Kiran shelter home for the mentally challenged, where 14 inmates, including a child, died last month.

Noting that nearly all of the deceased suffered from tuberculosis, a Division Bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that the deaths could not be coincidental.

‘Can’t be a coincidence’

Just too many deaths in a short span of time. It cannot be a coincidence. There can’t be an outbreak of TB in a shelter home. — Delhi High Court

The court also directed the Delhi Jal Board to immediately test the water quality at the shelter home as well as the condition of water and sewer pipelines. Reports from the Secretary and the Delhi Jal Board are to be submitted before the next hearing on August 7.

The court noted that if overcrowding is an issue, some residents should be relocated. The court was hearing a PIL filed by Samadhan Abhiyan, which called for a court-monitored investigation into the deaths and a potential CBI inquiry.

The petition alleged serious lapses in the shelter home’s operations, implicating Delhi Government-owned bodies.

In response, the Delhi Government’s counsel clarified that of the 14 who died, only one was a child, while the others were adults with severe intellectual disabilities and comorbidities. The majority of these deaths occurred in hospitals, and postmortem reports are pending.

The court identified two primary concerns — conducting a criminal investigation to assign responsibility and implementing immediate remedial measures. The bench stressed the urgency of addressing potential issues, particularly ensuring adequate drinking water and maintaining hygienic conditions at the shelter home.