Villagers seek upgradation of PHC into Community Health Centre

Chamarajanagara: The promise of upgrading the primary health centre at Male Mahadeshwara hill, a famous pilgrimage site, to a 30-bed community health centre remains a dream since years. Though Health and Family Welfare officers are saying that the Male Mahadeshwara temple development authority has identified two acres of land for the hospital, there has been no further progress.

There are 21 villages of Mahadeshwarbetta on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The hill is centre to all these villages. One has to rely on the primary health center here for health services. It is a place visited by thousands of devotees daily. But there is no system of treatment in case of emergency of illness. When he was chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa visited Mahadeshwara betta on November 26, 2020 and during the inaugural ceremony of various development projects, he promised that steps would be taken to convert the primary health centre of the hill into a 30-bed community health centre.

n December 2022, Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai while inaugurating various projects in a programme held in Hanur also laid the foundation stone for the project to upgrade the primary health centre at Mahadeshwarbetta. But even today the construction work of the new building of Community health Centre has not started.

Responding to this Hanur taluk health officer Dr. Prakash said, 'Preparations have already been made to upgrade the primary health centre of Betta. The authorities have identified the area. If the authorities decide, they can establish a community health centre soon,' he said.

There is a situation where the patients who are receiving primary treatment in the present health centre have to go to Tamil Nadu or Hanur and Kollegala towns for urgent and further treatment and surgery. Therefore, hospital work should be started as soon as possible. Nagendra, president of Mahadeshwar Hill Progressive Thinkers' Forum, urged the health department.