Doctors treat patients under mobile torch at Andhra hospital

Amaravati, Sep 3 (IANS) Visuals of doctors treating patients under mobile phone torch light at a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh's Parvatipuram Manyam district went viral, highlighting the power outages in the state.

After a road accident, eight injured were brought to Primary Health Centre at Kurupam on Saturday. Since there was a power cut, the medical staff had to treat the injured under the flashlight of mobile phones. The PHC, like many other government health facilities, lacks power backup.

Following the incident, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu slammed the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government over the electricity shortage.

"Horrified by the scenes unfolding in Kurupam, where doctors are forced to provide treatment to a patient under flashlights during a power outage. Power cuts are causing immense suffering across various sectors in Andhra Pradesh, including households, agriculture, and industry," Naidu wrote on X.

"People have taken to the streets to protest against the persistent electricity shortages. Jagan has failed to provide a stable and reliable power supply. It's distressing to witness a state that once enjoyed a surplus of power now plunged into darkness and frequent blackouts," said the leader of opposition.

This was not an isolated incident. Similar scenes were witnessed at Area Hospital at Salur town in the same district. The hospital plunged into darkness due to power cut in the area following a thunderstorm on Saturday.

The blackout caused severe inconvenience to patients. Medical staff had to provide emergency treatment to patients under the flashlight of their mobile phones.

Authorities in several parts of the state were resorting to unscheduled power cuts for the last few days. The officials attribute this to increased power demand due to the long dry spell.

At a review meeting two days ago, officials had apprised Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy that the demand for electricity has shot up by 18 per cent compared to last year, due to the dry spell.

Power crisis had gripped the state during the summer. From domestic to agriculture and industry, every sector had to face power cuts due to a huge gap between demand and supply.

The situation did not ease due delayed monsoon and a long dry spell in July-August.

The Chief Minister had stated the government is spending money to procure power at a higher price of Rs 7.52 per unit in order to maintain power supply. As many as 44.25 million units were purchased daily by spending an amount of Rs 2,935 crore between March and August.

He said that the state government spent Rs 501 crore in March, Rs 493 crore in April, Rs 430 crore in May,  Rs 346 crore in June, Rs 198 crore in July, and Rs 966 crore in August to procure power.