RAYAGADA: In a grim reminder of poor road connectivity and healthcare in remote tribal pockets of Odisha, a 35-year-old pregnant woman was carried for nearly 5 km in a sling to reach an ambulance in Kashipur block of Rayagada district.
She later delivered a stillborn baby at the district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Rayagada.
The incident took place on Sunday in Malipadar village under Sunger gram panchayat in the Sijimali area. Thirty-five-year-old Suku Majhi, wife of Arjun Majhi, developed labour pain, after which an ASHA worker called an ambulance.
However, with no motorable road connecting Malipadar, the ambulance could reach only a point near Aliguna village. Her family members then carried her in a cloth sling across the hilly terrain for nearly 5 km to reach the ambulance. Ambulance driver Deepak Gopal assisted in shifting the woman.
The woman was initially taken to the nearby Sunger primary health centre. However, as no doctor was available there, she was taken to the community health centre at Kashipur.
As her condition was critical, she was subsequently shifted to the DHH in Rayagada, where she delivered a stillborn baby.