Health Center Relies On Mobile Torches For Deliveries Amid Power Crisis

The community health center in Bhopalpatnam is grappling with a severe crisis, as frequent power outages force staff to use mobile torches for deliveries. Essential equipment, including two generators, has been out of order for two years, while newly arrived generators remain uninstalled. A mostly non-functional solar panel exacerbates the power issues, leading to vaccine spoilage in refrigerators.

Lab tests at the hospital have come to a standstill, with typhoid tests halted for the past three months and a broken CBC machine making proper patient treatment impossible. The health center serves over 150 patients daily, primarily those suffering from fever or malaria. The rainy season has increased the number of patients with seasonal diseases.

Both doctors and patients are significantly affected by the electricity problems. Despite health minister Shyam Jaiswal’s directives to improve conditions, the center remains in a dire state, with widespread filth and overgrown plants. The two out-of-order generators have yet to be replaced.

Upon learning of the center’s struggles, the health department issued orders to install new generators at the community health center.