Patna, Nov. 30: The high court today directed the state’s top health bureaucrat to personally appear before it to explain what steps the government has taken to control the spread of encephalitis and malaria, which have so far claimed the lives of over 100 children in Gaya district.

Amarjeet Sinha, the principal secretary, health, will have to be present in court with his reply on December 5.

The court took a strong stand after the health department failed to file an affidavit on the steps taken by it to curb encephalitis and malaria.

The division bench of Justice T. Meena Kumari and Justice Vikash Jain passed the direction on a PIL filed by social activist Dhirendra Kumar, who sought directions to the government on preventive measures to control deaths caused by encephalitis and malaria. Kumar also requested the court to remove encroachments from the Lady Elgin and district leprosy hospitals in Gaya.

The government was supposed to file its affidavit today but it sought two more weeks to detail the steps it has taken or intends to take to check the spread of the diseases.

But the bench refused to grant any more time and asked the principal secretary to personally appear in the court. The petitioner’s counsel, Sunil Kumar, vehemently opposed the government’s contention on the ground that more than 100 children had died but the government did not appear concerned enough.

Counsel Kumar, through his supplementary affidavit, submitted that 17 children had died of malaria in Gaya district in the past few days but the government was not keen to take steps to control the spread of the disease. Encephalitis and malaria have so far taken the lives of 87 and 17 children in the district respectively.

The high court observed that when the authorities concerned did not function properly, diseases were bound to take a heavy toll.