BATTAGRAM: Modern equipments at the newlybuilt District Headquarters Hospital, Battagram, lie inoperative due to prolonged loadshedding and low voltage of electricity.

The hospital was built to provide healthcare to people of four districts, including Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan and Shangla.

However, low voltage and excessive outages have rendered out of use the X-ray machine, Operation Theater, dialysis unit and other machinery, forcing people to seek treatment at private hospitals at huge cost.

Gul Mohammad, resident of Thakot village, told Dawn that before construction of the hospital, they used to take patients to Abbottabad for treatment, but lamented that the well-equipped hospital had been rendered nonfunctional due to negligence of Pesco.

He said he wanted to have an X-ray of his son`s injured knee, but when he went to the DHQ hospital, he came to know that it was not possible because the machine was lying inoperative due to power outage. He said he had to get the job done from a private laboratory at high cost.

Meanwhile, doctors at the hospital told Dawn the concerned department shouldlook into the grave situation and ensure uninterrupted power supply to the hospital.

We have modern equipment in this hospital for quality treatment of patients, but are unable to operate them due to low power voltage of electricity.

District Health Officer, Battagram, Nadar Saifullah told Dawn the department had paid over Rs3.2 million in 2009 to Pesco for a separate transmission line from the Chattar Plan grid station to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the hospital.

But, he deplored that in 2015, the Pesco demanded another Rs1.7 million, which were also provided towards the start of the current year, but even then the issue was not resolved.

Mr Saifullah said recently he contacted XEN for Mansehra and Battagram region, but instead of listening to him, the Pesco official allegedly misbehaved with him. He urged the provincial government to take strict action against the Pesco executive engineer for his misbehaviour.

The DHO said the local MPA and other concerned authorities were also in the know of the grave situation at the hospital, but they were unbothered.

The Pesco XEN did not respond to the calls made by this reporter on his phone to know his version.