Baby delivered under leaky roof at Anakapalle wellness centre in Andhra Pradesh
VISAKHAPATNAM: As rains lashed the Anakapalle district, inadequate infrastructure at a health and wellness centre in Devarapalli Mandal has come to the fore. A woman delivered her baby under a leaky roof on Wednesday night even as the remaining staff were forced to hold buckets and collect the rainwater seeping through the cracks of the roof.
It may be noted that Deputy Chief Minister Budi Mutyala Naidu hails from this Mandal.
Officials concerned said that the repair works at the Centre, sanctioned under the State government’s Nadu-Nedu programme long ago, were yet to be undertaken. The healthcare facility caters to the medical needs of people living in the area, including tribals from the suburbs of Devarapalli.
District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) Dr Hemanth explained that only one contractor had filed for a tender to take up repair works. However, he left the works incomplete for various reasons, which further resulted in the leaky roof.
Dr Hemanth said the R&B department will now invite tenders again and finalise them in a few days. “We expect officials to complete the works at the earliest, once the tender is finalised,” he asserted. Stating that they were facing the issue of water leakage only when it rained, the DM&HO said, “When it comes to medical facilities, everything is in place.
We will shift to temporary accommodation, once the repair works begin and will continue to attend to the patients.”Meanwhile, both the woman and her baby are reportedly doing fine, and they are the only ones being treated at the centre at the time, the staff said.