It is nothing short of collective disgrace that it took the Aedes mosquito, a double-digit death toll, hospitals struggling to cope with thousands of patients — and a veritable “media-bombardment” — to shake the several authorities in the Capital out of a political comfort zone and appear to be attempting to tackle a serious health crisis. It is, of course, too soon to tell if it will prove another instance of too-little too-late but there can be no two opinions that lethargy has bred as unchecked as the offensive mosquito. Much may be made of the Lieutenant-Governor, chief minister and some of his colleagues not being in the city as it passed through dark times, but the larger message is that the organisations they head must be shamelessly inept if it requires their personal presence to ensure even a modicum of action.

What galls is the continued attempt by the AAP leadership to claim that there is no crisis, resort to contrasting statistics with those of yesteryear and claim that the situation is a media creation. Maybe it is time to ask Kejriwal & Co. to clarify what created their outfit courtesy the sensational projection of events at the Ramlila Ground? Denial apart, the blame-game involving the state government, municipal agencies and Raj Niwas would warrant description as a “shocker”: only it has become such a regular occurrence that it no longer shocks.

While Kejriwal&’s railing against limited powers is par for the course he has chosen to follow, has the LG not stooped equally low in the petty turf war? And never forget that the BJP-controlledm unicipalities have been equally guilty of failing the people, in fact ought to have been at the forefront of the battle. The drive against mosquito-breeding was conducted more in the media than on the ground. Dengue fever and chikungunya are “seasonal” hazards, they ought to have been tackled when the monsoon was at its peak.

The real “hazard” is the skewed and complex power-sharing structure in Delhi — which was administered far more efficiently before political egos were pampered by declaring it a “state” in name only. There would be valid reasons for the central government retaining control of key sectors, but that also requires the union government to play a major role in seemingly trivial affairs. This is a task consistently ignored by the NDA set-up.

In the present instance the health ministry at the Centre stands accused of allowing the sit ation to deteriorate so as to embarrass the AAP that give the Modi-bandwagon its first post-election jolt. Until now the squabble over who wields power in the Capital has been up in the air, notional as far as the common man is concerned. The Aedes mosquito has made that a very palpable curse.