ADILABAD: A pregnant tribal woman was forced to walk about 10 km each way to give birth at the Nirmal government hospital, bringing to the fore the lack of motorable roads, especially to Agency areas in Telangana. A Nagamma’s trek is not an isolated incident; lack of motorable roads and bridges in Agency areas in erstwhile Adilabad district force tribals, be it the ailing or the elderly, to walk for hours to reach their destination.
Nagamma, a resident of Govena Nayapuguda village, had to trek up two small hills and cross ditches to reach Balanpur, about 10 km from her residence on April 28. From there, she managed to get an ambulance that took her to the Nirmal government hospital where she gave birth to a baby girl. For her return journey, she had to take the same route, this time with her newborn. Accompanied by a close relative, the woman finally got some rest upon reaching home safely.
Safely since the “road” is in such a bad shape that it is unfit for even a two-wheeler. The road, which was laid last year as part of the ‘Policelu meekosam’ programme, was badly battered by the rains last year and is unusable. In August last year, Kodapa Rajubai, another tribal woman, died during childbirth, screaming in agony while being taken to hospital on a makeshift stretcher slung on the shoulders of tribals from her home in Gadiguda in Adilabad district. People in Mangli village in Adilabad rural mandal have to walk about 3 km to reach their destination. Incidentally, Mangli is one of the villages adopted by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan last year.
Only promises, no action
The tribals say that CM KCR had earlier announced that thandas and gudems would be developed as gram panchayats so that they have good connectivity to the mandal headquarters, but no action has so far been taken in this regard.