Srinagar, Nov 26: Rural hospitals in the Kashmir Valley are grappling with power outages, severely impacting patient care during the winter months. Despite being vital hubs for healthcare, these facilities are experiencing disruptions that are causing inconvenience to both patients and medical staff.
Residents from various areas have voiced their concerns, highlighting the challenges faced due to the lack of electricity during peak hours. The affected rural hospitals, including Sub-District Hospitals/Community Health Centres, and Primary Health Centres in Budgam, Ganderbal, Magam, Tangmarg, Baramulla, Pattan, Rafiabad, are struggling to maintain medical services due to power shortages.
Mushtaq Ahmad, a patient from Tangmarg, expressed the difficulties faced by the sub-district hospital and PHCs in the area, emphasizing that solar systems and generators are insufficient to meet patient needs.
“Although there are solar systems and generators but those don’t cater to needs of patients. The healthcare system especially in Tangmarg area has been badly affected,” he said.
The Tangmarg healthcare system has been severely impacted, with hospitals struggling to provide essential diagnostics.
He said that those hospitals that do not have any other option other than power are compelled not to provide essential diagnostic to the patients are affecting healthcare.
“There should be a separate line for the hospitals or huge back-ups which is impossible. Health care should not be compromised,” the patient said. The problem is grave in especially in Primary Health Centres and it has become inconvenient for people.
As patients bear the brunt of power outages, health officials say the lack of electricity can become more problematic for critical patients who solely dependent on oxygen in hospitals.
Across rural areas it is difficult for patients to even get an oxygen cylinder as the rural hospitals lack oxygen plants, with people facing difficulties in arranging oxygen cylinders.
Saleem Ahmad, a local from Rafiabad said his grandmother is an asthma patient and often needs oxygen concentrator at home but she also suffers due to power shortage.
“We get four hours of electricity out of 24 hours. We have a PHC near out home where patients as well as the hospital staff suffer due to power outages,” he said.
“We are facing erratic power supply. The voltage also remains poor. Few days ago, she needed oxygen, but there was no electricity. We put that on an inverter which worked for two minutes,” he added.
Expressing concern, medical experts said when there is no proper supply of oxygen patients can suffer hypoxia (deficiency in the amount of oxygen).
“Due to hypoxia patients can suffer damage to vital organs and can die. Those patients who are on oxygen support are at risk. Power supply is vital for them,” they said.
Chief Engineer, PDD, Distribution, Javed Yousuf Dar said the hospitals in Srinagar and in rural areas including at sub district level having essential lines get round-the-clock electricity.
“The district and sub-district hospitals are generally on dedicated or essential lines and most of them get round-the-clock electricity. There may be issues owing to the curtailment obviously there would be inconvenient,” the CE said.
However he said there are PHCs and other health facilities that on the general lines and there are curtailments. “We cannot have separate arrangements for all PHCs,” he said.
Officials of health department Kashmir also agree that there are inconveniences in the rural areas adding that they have been working hard to connect major hospitals with essential lines and adding backup facilities wherever possible.
