Ahmedabad: Gujarat high court is likely to hear on Tuesday morning a PIL complaining against alleged inaction on part of local authorities in curbing the outbreak of bird flu and seeking punitive action against officials responsible for bringing H5N1-infected birds to Memnagar from Hathijan.The petitioner, a 96-year-old resident of Memnagar, Bhagwatiben Brahmbhatt, has taken exception to the decision of bringing birds from an NGO, Sarva Dharm Rakshak Seva Trust in Hathijan, from the city outskirts, to a public garden in Memnager, at the centre of the city, despite having suspicion that the birds might carry the virus.The PIL filed through advocate Harshil Dholakia has alleged that the authorities have not taken any precaution and efforts to curb the spread except the police commissioner issuing a notification under section 144 of the CrPC. By this notification, the 1-kilometre area around the park has been declared bird flu-affected zone and the 10-km area an alert zone. Beyond this, the authorities seem to have done nothing expect putting the health of citizens at risk by executing flawed ideas.The PIL has questioned the decision to bring birds to Memnagar from Hathijan because Memnagar is a residential zone with St Xavier's School close by. It questioned who gave orders to bring birds to Memnagar and why the infected birds were not culled and buried outside the city. Such a decision put citizens' lives at risk.With schools and other education institutes in the vicinity, the chances of spread of the disease increase multi-fold, claims the petition, as students come to this area from across the city. The petitioner has demanded an inquiry into the process followed in dealing with bird flu outbreak in the city. Those responsible in making wrong decisions must be punished, the petitioner has demanded. After filing the PIL on Monday, advocate Dholakia mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice R S Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi and urged for urgent hearing. The bench has decided to hear the PIL on Tuesday.

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