New Delhi, Jan. 28 -- The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board to prepare comprehensive emergency action plans to protect patients and their attendants who camp outside major government hospitals during extreme weather conditions.

The court said the board must formulate two annual short-term emergency plans-one each for heatwaves and cold waves-which will come into force only after approval by the monitoring committee overseeing the matter. The directions were issued by a bench headed by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia, while hearing a suo motu case initiated after media reports highlighted the distressing condition of patients and their families waiting outside the All India Institu...