AIIMS Rishikesh to Provide Free Health Services to Displaced People of Tehri Dam

To address health issues of people displaced during the construction of Tehri dam, a special Community Health Model (CHM) was launched. As part of the model, specialty and super-specialty treatment would be given to the displaced people with non-communicable diseases. Around six specialty doctors, medical workers/counsellor and public health nurses will be posted in the area for providing sustainable health facilities. Patients of diabetes, pre-diabetic, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases will be given special Blue referral card by the counsellors and the high-risk patients would be referred to AIIMS Rishikesh.

Expressing happiness over the initiative, a Pratapgarh resident, Usha Rawat, said, “The people displaced by the Tehri dam construction have always been at the receiving end of things. This area has neither any health-care facilities nor any ambulances. If AIIMS starts such an initiative for us, we would be highly benefitted. Over 2,000 people reside around the Tehri dam and a lot of people have died due to lack of medical services.” Another resident added that the state government had earlier initiated a drive under the World Bank project to spruce up the overall health facilities in Tehri. “However, a lot still needs to be done and AIIMS can fill in the gaps,” said, Akhilesh Semwal, another displaced resident of Tehri. “There is also very little facility at the district hospital. AIIMS with its specialty services will play a significant role in the area. Emergency cases will also be taken care of and the number of fatalities will decrease,” Semwal said. Another resident said that all these years they have wasted a lot of money to travel to and fro Dehradun for medical treatments. “With this initiative, the doctors will come to us and give us free treatment. This comes as a huge relief,” the resident said.

People of around 40 villages in and around Tehri dam were displaced after the construction of Tehri dam. Some have also cried foul for not getting sufficient compensation from the government or Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC). The initiative, started by AIIMS Rishikesh director Ravikant, will give voluntary health services by reaching out to below poverty line (BPL) patients residing in far-lying areas. Giving out details, nodal officer of the program Dr Santosh Kumar said, “We will provide sustainable health services to the displaced communities in Tehri and Rishikesh. We will first conduct a survey to identify the communities and decide on the number of doctors and ambulances to be allotted for the program. We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with THDC for the same.” He added that after identifying the communities, AIIMS will deploy medical social workers and public health service nurses and screen the residents routinely. – TOI