A woman is seen sitting in the dark with her newborn baby at NTR Hospital.
It was late evening when Sukanya (name changed) went into labour at NTR Hospital in Andhra Pradesh's Narsipatnam. There was no power supply and what the nurses and paramedical staff told the husband was to urgently arrange for as many cellphones, candles and torchlights as possible because it was completely dark and there was no backup like a generator available.
"How was I supposed to do it, make all those arrangements so late in the evening at the hospital? Not just my wife, there were other women too. Everyone was suffering, and it was scary. I was really scared what would happen to my wife and baby," her husband has said in a video available with NDTV.
Luckily for the family, the baby was born without any complication and a video of the newborn with the grandmother, getting cleaned up for the world outside, was also available. "How can they carry out deliveries in darkness? What if there is a complication and something goes wrong?" the grandmother said.
The nurses, when asked, said the generator was under repair so emergency lights were not possible. "It is hell for the women and new born babies inside the ward. It is pitch dark, there are mosquitoes and it is so hot. Is this what we should expect in an Area Hospital?" a woman asked.
The incident happened in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday as many parts of the state reported power cuts.
Similar reports emerged from PG Jangareddygudem area Hospital where patients had to suffer for hours. The staff claimed there was no diesel in the generators. The hospital remained in darkness for almost the entire night.
A video from the government hospital at Jangareddygudem also showed patients and attendants in complete darkness inside the wards, moving about using cell phone lights. Many complained that they were not able to even rest in such conditions.
The Andhra Pradesh electricity department has announced 50 per cent power cut due to rising demand. But this has made the lives of the people of the state difficult due to sweltering heat.
Andhra Pradesh is facing a deficit of around five lakh units a day, which has led to long power cuts.
The issue has been picked up by opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which has accused the Jagan Mohan Reddy government of mismanagement.
"A state which once illuminated with abundant power, was now pushed into darkness and blackouts," he recently said in a tweet.
Former speaker of Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Jana Sena political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar too had lashed out at the government. He said last week that unofficial power cuts had become the order of the day across the state for the past six months.
Last month, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced a hike in power tariff in the southern state.
The tariff hike ranges from 45 paise to Rs 1.57 per unit in six different slabs only for domestic consumption.