Maharashtra: No roads in Palghar village put ailing residents at risk

Villagers seen carrying Sundar Jayram Kirkire in a makeshift palanquin, while negotiating a perilous 4 km-stretch. Pic/Hanif Patel

An ailing tribal woman, residing in a remote hamlet in Mokhada taluka of the Palghar district, was rushed to a hospital by her relatives in a makeshift stretcher for four km, before they hired a private vehicle to reach a nearby hospital. The 35-year-old, Sundar Jayram Kirkire, lives with her family in Markatwadi village where one can reach only after negotiating the drain and hill. Local residents told mid-day that it had been raining heavily on July 6, when the tribal woman fell sick. "Her husband Jayram informed ASHA worker Manda Wagh about her condition in the early hours of July 7, and Wagh decided to take her to the hospital," said Triyambak Malak, sarpanch of Botoshi village. "There is no pucca road in the village. So, Kirkire had to be carried in a palanquin made using sticks and bed-sheet and covered in tarpaulin," he added.

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Her relatives negotiated a perilous 4 km-stretch of rocky mountains, and muddy roads to reach Belpada, where a private vehicle was arranged to take her to Khodala PHC. Pradip Wagh, member of the Panchayat Samiti Block, told mid-day that they had written several letters to the Palghar district collector. "But our requests have fallen on deaf ears... People have been struggling to reach the hospital, but the government officials are not ready to make a road for us."

Malak said that only a few days earlier, on July 4, a pregnant tribal woman, Sita Vasant Dive, carrying twins, suffered severe labour pains and needed urgent medical assistance. "But the ambulance got stuck in the muddy path and couldn't arrive on time... By the time it arrived, she had already delivered a baby. She was rushed into the ambulance, but it got stuck again . A few local residents had to push the ambulance, while others spilled dry soil near the front wheels to allow the vehicle to come out," Malak recalled. The woman reached the hospital on time, but, the sarpanch says, it could have been fatal.