C-section deliveries alarmingly high in Telangana

CAESAREAN SECTIONS deliveries seem to be the new normal inTelangana due to a number of factors:A weak public health infrastructure, a mushrooming of private health care facilities and even a perceived notion of prestige, found a study commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) to understand the worrying trend in the state.The study also found that couples preferred caesarean as they thought it was “painless and safe”.

Ideally, its rate should be between 10 and 15 per cent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Telangana, however, 58 per cent deliveries were through caesarian,says the latest National Family Health Survey report of 2015-2016.The figure was a shocking 75 per cent in private sector facilities. A 2017 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that while a third of the deliveries at government hospitals were caesarean, the rate was 67 per cent at private hospitals in 2016-17. In Warangal and Karimnagar districts, the rate was as high as 80 per cent at private hospitals.

Responding to a petition by the residents of Tapoban village in Chamoli district, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) to take steps to prevent muck from reaching the Dhauliganga river system. Most of NTPC’s muck disposal sites are 300 to 600 metres away from the river.

NGT has directed the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh to take action against officers responsible for failure in maintaining the three sewage treatment plants in Indirapuram locality of Ghaziabad. It has asked the government to ensure removal of encroachments, regularly cleaning of drains and scientific disposal of waste.

The Bombay High Court has allowed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to clear mangroves for construction of a third bridge over the Thane creek at Vashi. Officials say they need to cut at least 430 mangroves spread over 1.4 hectares.

Number of cases on environment and development tracked from January 1,2020 to January 13, 2020

5

Supreme Court

2

High Courts

29

National Green Tribunal