SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Amaravati: As many as 367 babies were born after 3,100 pregnant women were shifted to hospitals as a precautionary measure ahead of very severe cyclonic storm Arnab in Andhra Pradesh.
The health and medical department identified 4,228 pregnant women, including those expected to deliver within two weeks and those with high-risk pregnancies and shifted 3,100 of them to medical facilities ahead of the cyclone.
“Of the 3,100 pregnant women shifted to hospitals as a precautionary measure during very severe cyclonic storm Arnab, 367 deliveries were recorded,” the department said in a press release issued on Thursday.
Of the women shifted, 690 were taken to Primary Health Centres (PHCs), 83 to Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs), 430 to Community Health Centres (CHCs), 442 to area hospitals, 132 to district hospitals, 456 to government medical college hospitals and 762 to private hospitals, it said.
The department kept 485 ambulances available during the cyclone, through which 43 people were shifted to hospitals. Another 196 vehicles under the ‘Thalli Bidda Express’ service were deployed, helping transport 15 people to medical facilities.
It also kept 549 mobile medical vehicles ready and conducted 50 medical camps to provide emergency healthcare services during the cyclone.
While medical teams continued providing services, 64 hospitals reported damage to buildings and infrastructure, including roofs, electrical equipment, generators and water supply systems.
Damages were reported at hospitals in Kaikaluru, Baruva, Tekkali, Aganampudi, Pendurthi, Nakkapalli, Narsipatnam, Repalle, Amalapuram, Rampachodavaram, Mummidivaram, Allavaram, Kothapeta and Nellimarla.
The compound walls of Penumantra and Devapudi PHCs were damaged.
Electrical wiring, generators, equipment and infrastructure at government hospitals in Eluru, Guntur and Vijayawada also suffered damage.
At Government Victoria Hospital in Visakhapatnam, water leaked through the ceilings of operation theatres, while leaks were reported at several locations in the old building. Windows and doors were also damaged.
The department said it had taken measures to maintain emergency medical services throughout the cyclone, with ambulances, Thalli Bidda Express vehicles and mobile medical units kept available to respond to medical needs.
55,000 evacuated across 9 Odisha districts
The Odisha government deployed over 300 teams from different disaster response agencies for rescue operations in flood-hit Ganjam and eight other districts, as Cyclone Arnab left a trail of destruction in several parts of the state, officials said.
As many as 59,028 people, including 11,882 from Ganjam, have been evacuated to safety after their houses were inundated with floodwater, they said.
State Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said 313 teams comprising nine from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 60 from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and 244 from the Fire Services Department were engaged in the rescue operations.
The evacuated people include 3,001 pregnant women, he said.
“Ganjam district has the highest deployment, with 45 ODRAF teams and seven NDRF teams, followed by Gajapati district, where 12 ODRAF teams and one NDRF team are operational,” Pujari said.
At least seven other districts – Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Kandhamal – have also been impacted by the cyclone, the minister said.
At least 36 trains were cancelled and nearly 30 others diverted, as rail tracks remained submerged in the east-coast section, while vehicular traffic on National Highway-16 was disrupted after floodwater from the Bahuda river inundated a portion of the road near the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border, the officials said.
Around 300 metres of National Highway-326 has been washed away in Mohana block of Gajapati district, disrupting connectivity with Ganjam, they said.
Garg said the Odisha government has started airlifting 2,328 people from 70 villages in Ganjam district, which have been cut off from the rest of the state.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him on the impact of cyclone ‘Arnab’ across Odisha, and the relief and restoration measures being undertaken by the government.
Meanwhile, former CM and opposition BJD chief Naveen Patnaik said in a social media post: “The fast erosion of Odisha’s disaster management leadership is a warning we ignore at our own peril. As we will continue to be prone to disasters, any dilution of the hard-won disaster preparedness will threaten the safety of our people and our economic progress
SOURCE : SIASAT
