Hailakandi: The Badarpur unit of the All India Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe Railway Employees Association has urged the railway authorities to restore all the facilities at the Badarpur railway hospital immediately for the sake of the employees and the people of the locality.

Association secretary Arjun Basfar alleged there is no alternative arrangement for power supply in the hospital and the emergency services are being conducted with candles during a power cut.

The entire valley is reeling under severe power cuts and the recent hailstorms have also severely hit the supply of electricity.

Badarpur in Karimganj district is a railway junction of the Barak Valley, about 25km from Karimganj town.

The members of the association recently staged a demonstration in front of the hospital, demanding installation of modern equipment for running water and power supplies.

Chief medical officer of the hospital, S. Deshmukh, admitted that the hospital has many problems and said the matter had been informed to the higher authorities.

Chief matron of the hospital, Supriya Dey, said theywere working with severe shortage of basic amenities. She said the doctors face extreme difficulties during emergency situations because of power cuts and scarcity of water.

A team of the association, comprising president Amarchandra Malakar, secretary Arjun Basfar and vice-president Amar Kumar Roy, met assistant divisional electrical engineer of the railways in Silchar on Sunday and requested him to take immediate steps to ensure continuous power supply to the hospital.

The engineer reportedly assured the association that they would look into the matter within two days.