KARIMNAGAR: Delay in the opening of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at the historic Sri Kaleshwara Muktheeshwara Swamy devasthanam in Kaleshwaram of Mahadevpur mandal is costing dearly to the villagers of interior villages as well as the pilgrims visiting the ancient shrine.

During medical emergencies, the villagers living in remote villages along the shores of river Godavari and the neighbouring Chhattisgarh State have to rush to the Mahadevpur mandal headquarters, which is about 17 km away. A pilgrim from Hyderabad drowned in the river on Sunday. Due to non-availability of medical services at Kaleshwaram temple and villagers being able to shift the victim to Mahadevpur hospital caused his death.

A year ago during the Prajapatham programme, Minister for Civil Supplies D. Sridhar Babu had announced opening of PHC in Kaleshwaram temple shrine for the benefit of pilgrims and local villagers. But, the work was delayed due to various reasons, including the non-availability of land for the hospital. After several pleas, Forest authorities agreed to allocate land for the hospital.

District Medical and Health Officer Aleem told the media on Monday that the Forest authorities had promised to hand over the land for the PHC and that they would instruct the contractor to execute the work within six months. He said that the field staff was already in place in various villages of the mandal.

He said that the PHC would have six-beds and would be manned by a medical officer, staff nurse, pharmacist, lab technician, senior assistant and a class four employee. He said that the opening up of PHC would be a boon to the interior villagers as well as for the devotees visiting the temple shrine.