The demand for better healthcare facilities for the people of Talavadi hills continue to be neglected in all these years as they continue to travel to Sathyamangalam or to nearby Chamarajanagar in Karnataka for major treatments and during emergencies.
Talavadi is located 120 km from Erode and borders Karnataka. In 2015, Sathyamangalam taluk was bifurcated and Talavadi became a taluk with 21 revenue villages comprising over 50 hamlets. The current population is over 70,000 and most of the people are dependent on agriculture.
A Government Upgraded Primary Health Centre (UPHC) at Talavadi, primary health centres at Bynapuram, Ongalvadi, Germalam and Soosaipuram cater to the basic health care needs of the people in the hill area. About 200 patients are treated as outpatients at the UPHC every day, while about 10 deliveries take place every month at the centre. But, people claim that the centre has no X-ray or scan facilities and postmortem are not carried out. “During emergencies, only first-aid is provided to the patient and is referred to the government hospital at Sathyamangalam which is 60 km away”, said Sivappa. He said that traversing through forest area and again through the 27 hair pin bends on Dhimbam ghat section is a herculean task that they have to face regularly to reach hospitals.
Many said that patients are referred to the government hospital at Chamrajanagar that is 22 km away for treatment. “Since we are coming from a nearby State, they take time to treat us”, said Mahesh of Talavadi. People, who can afford, travel to Coimbatore (118 km) or to other private hospitals in Sathyamangalam. But it takes a whole day for us to travel by bus to reach the GH in Sathyamangalam and return home, he adds.
The delay in transporting accident victims or animal attack victims to the hospitals in plains lead to loss of lives, said S. Manickam, a resident, who claims that there are many instances of women in labour delivering babies in ambulances in the hills. “Only two ambulances with basic support are available which is inadequate and people have to arrange vehicles to reach hospitals during emergencies”, he said.
People said that taluk was formed seven years ago and the hospital is yet to be converted as taluk hospital or a government hospital. “Only if upgradation is done, we will get all the facilities so that we need not travel to plains”, said Mr. Manickam.
In September 2021, Minister for Housing and Urban Development S. Muthusamy, while speaking in Talavadi, assured of establishing a government general hospital. Hence, people wanted the health department to fulfill the long demands of the people in the hill area.
