Power cuts cripple Arunachal hospital, hits blood storage

ITANAGAR: Frequent power cuts at the district hospital at Ziro in Arunachal's Lower Subansiri district, one of the oldest in the state, has made preservation of blood difficult. The hospital's blood bank has four blood storage machines, said blood bank officer and pathologist Joram Khopey.
"People are willing to donate, but we do not have adequate storage facilities. Sometimes, power cuts last 12 hours at a stretch," he said.
The ailing hospital's only hope is a solar inverter promised by chief secretary Ramesh Negi during a recent visit to the blood bank. "If we are given a solar inverter, the blood bank can be revived, since there is no dearth of donors," Khopey said.
After taking charge of the blood bank in November 2013, he has conducted awareness programmes with students, officers and the public. "People turn up to donate blood voluntarily, but I have to turn them down because of the storage problem. However, we have their identities and contact numbers, and we call them as and when blood is required. If we get uninterrupted power supply, the people of Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri and Kurung Kumey will benefit," Khopey added.