Bottles of intravenous (IV) fluid hang from tree branches. The entire area hums with activity, as scores of people, including Chenchu and Sugali tribals from Nallamalla hills throng the grounds.
It is the site of the “people’s hospital” run by Dr. Manne Ravindra, in the mandal headquarters of Prakasam district.
Dr. Ravindra, who attended Guntur Medical College before launching a practice that has logged 47 years, performs life-saving surgical procedures and treats outpatients for free.
Malaria and tuberculosis are major health issues of malnourished tribal residents, who live in the remote Chenchu hamlets of the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) with big cats and other wild animals around, Dr. Ravindra says.
Many patients are dehydrated and come to the hospital for relief. The staff use tree branches to hang saline bottles to treat them.
“I cannot turn patients away when they come with the hope of a cure,” Dr. Ravindra says. Every inch in the hospital, including the corridors, is filled with patients. Chenchus, who call themselves children of trees, prefer to be treated under trees, the doctor says.
Tribals from the hilly region rarely get heart disease, while diabetes and hypertension are common among people from the plains, leading to cardiac and other major conditions, he says. Patients stay in private buildings adjacent to the hospital at a rent of ₹ 20 per bed.
Even as he speaks, a girl, who has consumed poison, is rushed in, and put on ventilator support. Patients come from Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy districts in Telangana for low cost surgery.
