Kalahandi: A pregnant woman was carried on a bamboo stretcher for nearly two kilometres in Odisha’s Kalahandi district after a Janani Express ambulance failed to reach her remote village because of a muddy and badly damaged road.
The incident occurred in Ghutiguda village under the jurisdiction of Thuamul Rampur police station. Ranjita Majhi went into labour on Friday night, prompting her family to call the Janani Express ambulance service.
However, the ambulance could not reach the village as the approach road had become non-motorable following recent rains. After waiting for a considerable time, the ambulance was forced to return without transporting the patient.
Left with no other option, Majhi’s family hired an auto-rickshaw at their own expense on Saturday morning (July 18). Villagers then tied a stretcher to bamboo poles and carried the expectant mother for about two kilometres to the nearest motorable road. From there, she was taken to the Thuamul Rampur Community Health Centre in the auto-rickshaw.
Residents said the ordeal was a direct consequence of the absence of an all-weather road connecting the village. They alleged that repeated appeals to the administration for improved road infrastructure had failed to yield any results.
The villagers once again urged the district administration to expedite the construction of an all-weather road to ensure that ambulances and other emergency services can reach the village without hindrance.
