Months after a 35-year-old tribal man died of snake bite as he had to be carried to hospital on foot from the Attukaalkollai hamlet in Alleri hillock, district health officials have sent a proposal to the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine seeking the setting up of a Primary Health care Centre (PHC) in the village on the outskirts of Vellore town.
Attukaalkollai village made headlines twice in the recent past over the absence of a PHC facility. On July 20, a 35-year-old man bitten by snake died while he was taken to hospital, the nearest being 17 kms away. On May 28, an 18-month-old baby girl in the hillock, too, died in a similar way due to the lack of a PHC.
“Once the Finance Committee of the State government approves the proposal, preliminary steps will be taken to construct a PHC. The official nod is expected soon,” P. Banumathi, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Vellore, told The Hindu.
