The number of COVID-19 positive cases in Anantapur district crossed the 3,000-mark on Saturday from just 280 cases by June 8 ,and that left the district administration looking for more number of hospital beds.
While the district badly needs good hospital infrastructure, a Union government-sponsored Super Speciality Hospital is being constructed for the past four years, while it should have been handed over by early 2019.
Lack of coordination
When the first COVID-19 case was detected on March 12 in the district, everyone eyed this facility, but due to sheer lack of coordination between the executing agency HLL Infratech Services Ltd (HITES), Haigreeva Infratech Projects Ltd., Government General Hospital & Medical College and the district administration, four months of valuable time was lost.
Now even to operationalise at least one floor of the five planned floors near JNTU Campus, it will take another 15 days, according to the executing agency. At every COVID review meeting since mid-April, the district administration had been assuring people that work would be completed within a week.
COVID care centres
In its absence, several colleges and S.K. University buildings had been converted into COVID Care Centres, and two private hospitals — RDT Bathalapalli and KIMS Saveera — had been utilised for admitting serious patients in addition to the GGH. The district administration has even proposed converting an under construction warehouse at Raminepalli into a COVID Care Centre, but even that is a Herculean task.
Anantapur Medical College Principal and other officials inspected the facility and were of the opinion that 36 beds with ventilators and remaining 72 ICU (With Oxygen supply) beds could be immediately brought into use temporarily if additional manpower was deployed by the contractor and minor works were finished in ‘First Floor’. The centralised air-conditioning work has just started and the self-sustaining sewage treatment plant is yet to be set up in the hospital, which is supposed to be a greenfield project.
Ventilators, patients’ beds and Oxygen cylinders are in place but some minor works need to be completed.
Anantapur Urban MLA Anantha Venkatarami Reddy told The Hindu that while the Centre had paid its share of ₹110 crore, the share of State government (about ₹30 cr) was pending and following his representation, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised to release that immediately.
Bharatiya Janata Party State vice-president S. Visnuvardhan Reddy said he had spoken to Health Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy and got an assurance to expedite the work.