Power outage delays surgeries for pregnant women in Ludhiana

In Ludhiana, a power outage has left the mother and child operation theater at a civil hospital out of service. This has caused delays for pregnant women needing cesarean sections. Patients and their families reported being frustrated as they were forced to wait for hours. The outage began on Monday evening and affected the operation theater, which was newly upgraded. Attendants of expectant mothers claimed they were told to take their relatives to a private hospital or stay at the hospital at their own risk, since the power was out. One patient, Rinku, expressed concern for his wife, who was in pain and lying on a bench in the corridor. He questioned why other hospital services had power but the operation theater did not have a generator. Another patient, Kumari Mahima, shared her experience of waiting for over two hours outside the OT without any information from hospital staff. Officials indicated that at least three patients had been referred to a nearby private hospital by noon. The power loss was due to a fault in an 11KV cable within the hospital, as confirmed by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited officials. They reported that repairs were being carried out, but power was not restored until around 3 PM.