Gadchiroli, Aug 28 (PTI) Challenging geographical terrain and swollen floodwaters forced villagers in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district to carry a 26-year-old pregnant woman on a stretcher and cross a water body, even as health officials maintained that it provided timely medical assistance.
The case involves Chhaya Naitam, a resident of Koindul village in Etapalli taluka. On Friday morning, she went into labor, creating an urgent need for hospital care.
However, due to the lack of a paved road and a bridge connecting the remote settlement, a Primary Health Centre (PHC) ambulance could not reach the village directly because of accumulated floodwaters from heavy seasonal rains.
Realising the seriousness of the situation, the villagers laid the woman on a stretcher and crossed the river through the swollen floodwaters at great risk to their lives. She was subsequently admitted to the Kasansur Primary Health Centre (PHC).
Reacting to viral videos and media reports depicting the ordeal, District Health Officer Dr Pratap Shinde issued a detailed press release clarifying the official sequence of events and defending the administration’s swift mobilization.
According to the health department, local ASHA volunteer Nirmala Narote was notified of the labour pains at 7.40 am and immediately alerted auxiliary nurse midwife Chandrakala Sidam. Health workers coordinated with the ambulance driver, and the vehicle was dispatched toward Koindul village at 8 am.
Due to heavy inundation blocking the route, the ambulance halted near the flooded drain area at 8.30 am. With the help of locals and health staff, the patient was safely brought across the obstacle on a foldable stretcher and loaded into the waiting ambulance at 9 am.
The patient was subsequently admitted to the Kasansur Primary Health Center at 9.30 am, where a doctor examined her and found her hemoglobin critically low. Given her high-risk condition, she was referred at 11.30 am and admitted to LKAM Hospital in Hedri for advanced care.
The health administration said that despite severe infrastructural bottlenecks and geographical isolation, rapid communication and inter-departmental coordination ensured the patient’s safe transit and medical stabilisation without critical delay. PTI COR CLS NP
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