Bombay High Court Criticizes State Over Melghat Malnutrition and Water Crisis
The Bombay High Court has strongly criticized the Maharashtra government over the persistent crisis of chronic malnutrition, water scarcity, and lack of healthcare in the tribal Melghat region of Amravati district. During recent hearings, including remarks made last week and in March, the court expressed deep concern over ongoing child deaths and the state's failure to provide basic necessities to the local tribal population, more than three decades after judicial monitoring began.
The legal proceedings stem from a batch of public interest litigations filed in 1992–93 by activists, including Dr. Rajendra Burma and Bandu Sampatrao Sane. Despite numerous court directions, monitoring committees, and reports over the last 30 years, the high court noted that very little has changed on the ground for the vulnerable population.
Last week, a bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata remarked that water is a basic necessity and not a luxury. The bench chided the government pleader, who had emphasized that the state provides water tankers daily. However, advocate Jugalkishor Gilda, representing one of the petitioners, countered that the tanker supply remains highly irregular and the water supplied is of poor quality. During an April hearing, the court was informed that water contamination had recently led to 13 deaths and 86 hospitalizations in the region.
In March, a bench led by Justice Ravindra Ghuge, who is now the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court, strongly criticized the state over continuing malnutrition-related deaths. Justice Ghuge noted the tragedy of having to hear submissions on deaths occurring due to a lack of medication and proper medical support for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers despite "heaps of papers and reports."
The court also highlighted severe gaps in healthcare infrastructure. A proposed 300-bed hospital at Dharni, which was promised years ago, has still not been built. Justice Ghuge remarked in March that the hospital had been promised when he started his career as a lawyer, yet his tenure as a judge is now ending without the hospital being constructed.
The state government attributed the shortage of medical staff to doctors being unwilling to serve in the remote region. Gilda argued that doctors avoid these postings because basic facilities, including accommodation, are unavailable. The lack of local specialists continues to have fatal consequences, such as the recent death of a pregnant woman who died while being shifted from a primary health centre in Melghat to a hospital in Amravati due to a lack of local treatment.
Additionally, advocate Uday Warunjikar pointed out that the region faces a shortage of paramedical staff and sonography machines, alongside language barriers between tribal patients and healthcare workers.
