Noklentula Sangtam has been working at the same hospital as a nurse for the last 31 years. This year, for the first time and just three years before her retirement, she witnessed the hospital get 24/7 electricity supply. Needless to say, the nurse in charge at the district hospital of Kiphire, a small town in India’s northeastern state of Nagaland, is relieved.
“The next generation of nursing staff will not have to go through what we suffered when there were power cuts. In serious cases, we had to refer patients to Kohima or Dimapur [the largest cities in the state] at least 150 miles away.” Sangtam recalled.
The remote region in one of India’s least populated states faces long power cuts both due to low electricity generation and extreme weather conditions. In 2021 alone, the state witnessed over 800 water- and climate-related incidents. Between 2018 and 2021, the state saw a whopping 200% increase in climate-related incidents. Forcing patients and health workers at the 75-bed district hospital to deal with various health crises amid blackouts which would sometimes stretch for six to seven hours.
About the author
Cheena Kapoorcheenakapoor
Cheena Kapoor is a Delhi-based independent journalist and photographer focusing on health, environmental, and social issues. Her work has been published by The Guardian, The Telegraph, Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera, among many others. Her long-term project "Forgotten daughters" about abandoned women in Indian mental asylums has been widely published and exhibited across Europe. Follow Cheena on Twitter and Instagram.
