JEYPORE: A tribal woman gave birth alongside a road and walked around 2 km with the newborn to reach the ambulance in Koraput’s Dasmantpur block late on Wednesday night.
The woman was identified as Swati Muduli (28) of Tunkhal village in Dasmantpur block. Sources said Swati complained of labour pain in the night following which her family members informed the local ASHA. The health worker immediately rang up the ambulance service under Janani Express to take the pregnant woman to Dasmantpur community health centre (CHC).
On way, the ambulance reportedly got stuck in mud near Dharmagada village. The ambulance staff informed the ASHA to bring Swati to the spot where they were stuck as the vehicle was unable to proceed further due to non-motorable road.
Accordingly, Swati, her family members and the ASHA started walking towards Dharmagada village to reach the ambulance. Midway, the pregnant woman could not take the pain anymore and delivered a baby girl on the roadside. After waiting there for some time, Swati had to walk again for around 2 km with the newborn under cellphone torch light to reach the ambulance.
After reaching the ambulance, she was rushed to Dasmantpur CHC for further treatment. Sources said the condition of both the mother and baby is stable.
Incidentally, though Tunkhal village is only 12 km away from Dasmantpur, it has no direct route to the block headquarters. Six km of the 12 km road is motorable while the remaining stretch is unpaved. This 6 km stretch is now filled with mud and potholes following continuous rains since the last couple of days. Sources said 60 per cent of the villages in the block are situated either on hilly terrains or are inaccessible. Dasmantpur consists of 121 villages.
Contacted, block development officer (BDO) of Dasmantpur D Mallick said at least 79 villages have no all-weather road. “We have already informed the Rural Development department about the situation and requested the officials concerned to ensure proper connectivity in these areas,” the BDO added.