Women activists protest near the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation office on Friday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 31: Women activists protested near the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation office alleging poor health care delivery mechanism at the hospital run by the civic body in Old Town and lack of basic amenities in the city.

They decried the pathetic condition of the roads and that solid waste was not lifted on time from the primary garbage collection points. The activists also said there was a lack of facilities at the corporation hospital, where a pregnant woman died last week because of alleged negligence by the hospital staff.

“The hospital not only lacks doctors in all disciplines, ultrasound machines and endoscopy surgery equipment are also lying defunct. The civic authorities had said they would set up a modern hospital with the help of Rs 5 crore donated by a public sector company, but nothing has happened,” said Rashmi Mohapatra, a prominent social activist and Bhubaneswar District Mahila Congress president.

“Not just health-care facilities, roads in Old Town and other areas on the city outskirts are in bad shape after sewerage work was undertaken. We need action from the civic authorities immediately,’’ she said, adding that the much-advertised Bindusagar renovation plan had yielded no result, as it still did not have enough water in the middle of monsoon. She said that there should be a revival plan for the water level in Bindusagar.

Mahila Congress leaders such as Ashima Mahananda and Sandhyarani Mohapatra criticised the civic authorities for bad roads in various parts of the city. They also urged that special attention be given to tourist spots and places of pilgrimage in the city.

Municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra said the civic body would request the health and family welfare department to completely takeover the hospital. However, he added that the dispensaries would be under BMC’s control.

Mishra said lack of adequate junior engineers had affected development work.

“The mobile solid waste lifting management is already in practice and we will gradually monitor all areas of the city through the new mechanism,’’ he added.