Baramulla, Nov. 18: As the power crisis continues to grip north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the ramifications are nowhere more visible than in the region’s essential health facilities.
The sub-district hospitals and hundreds of other institutions, particularly the district’s primary health centers, have been hit the hardest.
Uri, Boniyar, Pattan, and Tangmarg health facilities are among those impacted.
These healthcare institutions, which are responsible for the well-being of the local people, are experiencing a severe power outage. A bleak picture exists, with inconsistent power supplies crippling key medical services in these hospitals.
The Sub District Hospital in Uri, the Primary Health Centre in Boniyar, and the Sub District Hospitals in Pattan and Tangmarg are all suffering as a result of limited and unstable power supplies.
While some have been outfitted with generators to keep operations running, these machines are either prone to frequent breakdowns or lack the ability to support crucial equipment such as X-ray machines.
Primary Health Centre Boniyar, a lifeline for inhabitants in remote areas, is a prime illustration of the crisis in progress.
Locals complain about the lack of a reliable 24-hour power supply, underscoring the inadequacies of the hospital’s modest generator, which fails to fulfill the hospital’s energy needs.
Because of the power outage, the X-ray plant, a critical diagnostic tool, is quiet, forcing patients to seek medical assistance elsewhere.
The health center’s only generator is incapable of powering critical medical equipment, including the X-ray plant.
According to Muhammad Irfan, a concerned citizen, the PHC Boniyar was a major health facility center in the region, serving patients from over a dozen villages, most of which were situated near the Line of Control (LoC).
“Because the area is prone to traffic accidents, an operational X-ray unit is essential.” However, due to frequent power outages, patients in need of X-rays had to be transferred to the GMC Baramulla when they could have been performed at the PHC Boniyar,” Irfan said.
The SDH Pattan, built as a trauma center along the Srinagar-Baramulla route, is in a similar situation.
Despite its vital role in delivering rapid medical treatments after accidents, the hospital is reliant on a failing generator due to a lack of a constant power source.
The Sub-District Hospital Uri has also been affected by the power outage.
The SDH Uri, too, lacks emergency power, causing the hospital to often confront a catastrophe.
Although the health center has been given the necessary generator, the frequent power outages pose a significant barrier to the institution’s proper operation throughout the winter.
The hospital administrators at a primary health center in Rafiabad said that the patients, attendants, and staff at the hospital are suffering greatly as a result of the area’s regular power outages.
According to them, the generator sets supplied to the hospital often develop snags, which seriously disrupt hospital operations.
“Due to the frequent power outages, we are unable to operate USG, X-ray, or X-ray equipment.” “When the power outage is resolved, the patients will be the biggest beneficiaries,” hospital officials stated.
