Rourkela: Patients are getting treated under mobile phone flashlights at Rajgangpur Community Health Centre (CHC), which is situated at the centre of one of the leading towns in this part of the state. As per reports, the CHC’s lone generator has not been functioning for the last four days. A woman, seriously injured in an accident, was provided medical attention under a mobile flashlight, Thursday. “We brought her in very bad condition with head and other injuries,” said her relative. Halfway through medical intervention, power went off as the generator was not functioning and the treatment had to be carried out under mobile flashlights. “There was no way out for the attending medical staff and the doctors,” said her relative.
Later she was shifted to Rourkela for further treatment. The worst affected are Gynecology and Paediatrics departments. When power goes out, the newborns and their mothers are the worst sufferers. “We have to fan them with hand-held fans for long hours because all of us know the status of power supply here. My baby was born in the dark. It is really very painful. Especially in the evening, the situation is all the more difficult due to mosquitoes,” said a person. When asked, the superintendent of the hospital Dr Jagdish Toppo accepted the condition. “The generator has been lying defunct for the last three days. This is a Mahindra-made diesel generator (DG). There is no local mechanic available for it at Rajgangpur. The starter of the DG is damaged. The technicians of the company have visited and probably they will replace the machinery today as they have promised,” said the superintendent. He informed me that the matter was informed to his higher authorities. When asked, he said there was no provision for a second standby DG.