Woman delivers baby under phone lights in Andhra hospital as state sees marathon power cuts

Attendants fanned infants in hospitals as power cuts in Andhra Pradesh exceed eight hours. (Image: screengrab from video uploaded by @ncbn/Twitter)

A woman delivered a baby under cell phone and torch lights in a government hospital after a gruelling power cut lasted nearly eight hours in an Andhra Pradesh district.

Doctors at the NTR government hospital in Narsipatnam, in the newly-formed Anakapalli district, delivered the baby on Wednesday in this humid weather without proper cooling or ventilation as the hospital generator, too, shut down. Visuals from the hospital shared on Twitter shows attendants and families fanning infants as the unbearable heat and lack of medical equipment crippled the facility's infrastructure.

Several videos show angry patients and their attendants struggling to keep their calm as they waited for the power to be back on up to get some relief. Women are seen sitting with infants fanning them to help provide some ventilation in the crowded ward.

People voiced their anger as well and told journalists that the mosquitoes have made the situation worse.

“It's such a big hospital, and there are no facilities. Even the generator is not working. It's like hell inside with no ventilation and lots of mosquitoes. Minimum facilities are even missing,” one attendant of a patient said.

The state has been marred by frequent power cuts recently. Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, N Chandrababu Naidu slammed the YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy government for the power failures. He also shared a video from the maternity ward of the hospital facing the crisis for hours.

In a Twitter thread, Naidu called out the YSR Congress government over the outages.

“The state of Andhra Pradesh has gone into darkness. People are seeing hell with severe power cuts. People in the villages are being harassed by unauthorized power cuts. What is the Chief Minister's response to the plight of pregnant women and postpartum women in maternity hospitals?” Naidu asked sharing the video.

“Who is responsible for today's darkness in our state, which is lit up with surplus electricity? Why is there no actual current in the state? Why these cuts when people are being bitten by hugely increased bills?” he continued.

He also said the alleged threats against citizens protesting the power cuts should be stopped and the crisis should be resolved.

?(2/3)#PowerCutsByJagan #PowerCutsInAP #BaadudeBaaduduByJagan

— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) April 7, 2022

pic.twitter.com/Yr27h3vSna

— Bhavya (@nodrama5678) April 7, 2022

https://t.co/p32YqoB1CP

— VaraM (@VaraM_V) April 8, 2022

From the last three days
6 hours per day in our town !
Villages near us don't know when they are gonna get power ! 8-10 hours for them !
Bro this ain't winter or we aren't staying near Himalayas!
We are one of the hottest states in the country !
#PowerCutsInAP

— kiranmai kakani (@kakani_kiranmai) April 6, 2022

Ap ppl right now #PowerCutsInAP pic.twitter.com/DRdf7U8YCi

— chaithu (@6eChaithu) April 8, 2022

Power cuts starting at 8 AM and no power till 2 PM since last 3 days and same today as well...we need a saviour @ysjagan are you still the chief minster of the state? #powercutsinap

— Shyam Prasad Bandi (@shyambandi) April 6, 2022

There were protests by Opposition parties just days ago against the recent hike in electricity tariff in the state. The tariff hike ranges from 45 paise to Rs 1.57 per unit in six different slabs for domestic consumption.