JAGATSINGHPUR: A 72-year-old woman, Golapi Maiti, who had fractured her right hand, had to be carried on a bamboo pole by villagers for a distance of 2 km to reach the 108 ambulance that took her to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment. The ambulance could not reach the village because of poor condition of the approach road.
Although the elderly woman was under severe pain, she had no other option but to bear with the arduous journey in her bid to reach the hospital. Villagers tied a fishing net to both sides of the pole and placed Maiti in it and shifted her to the ambulance. The incident had occurred on Sunday in Kariabill village under Balikuda block. This is not the solitary case.
Even as there is provision for 108 ambulance service in Balikuda block of Jagatsinghpur district, these vehicles fail to reach patients owing to bad roads. In fact, patients are frequently carried on bamboo poles to reach the ambulances that are stationed several kilometres away. There are several villages under the block where ambulances fail to enter as there are no proper kutcha roads. Neither the district administration nor elected representatives have paid attention towards repairing the bad roads in Kusupur, Tentulibellari and other coastal villages of Balikuda block.
Kusupur panchayat Sarpanch Prasant Kumar Hati said road from Dandadevi to Nendra, a major portion of Gainthipur- Kusupur road and Chhagharia-Kusupur road have been completely damaged.
“We have drawn the attention of higher authorities and elected representatives to the problem but to no avail,” he added.