TV
In yet another grim reminder of Odisha’s rural infrastructure crisis, two separate incidents from Nabarangpur district have once again exposed the dire consequences of poor road connectivity during medical emergencies, especially for expectant mothers in labour.
The latest occurred in Barajodi village under Tentulikhunti block, where a pregnant woman had to be carried on a cot for over two kilometres to reach the ambulance.
Sources reported that the woman’s family had called for emergency help after she went into labour, but due to the inaccessible, broken road, the ambulance could only reach within a 2 km radius of the village.
With no other option, family members manually transported her across difficult terrain to the ambulance, from where she was taken to Tentulikhunti Medical Centre.
Health officials later confirmed that both mother and newborn are safe following the delivery.
Second Similar Incident in Raighar
In a similar episode from Mundibera village in Raighar block, another pregnant woman had to be moved using a tractor, as an ambulance could not reach the village.
Like in Barajodi, poor roads left emergency services helpless. Family members and local volunteers transported her to the point where the ambulance was stationed 2 km away, using the tractor in the absence of any better means.
She, too, was admitted to a nearby hospital and later delivered safely. Reports say both mother and child are in stable condition.
Repeated Failures in Healthcare Access
Such distressing visuals have become all too common in Odisha’s tribal and remote belts. Villages like Barajodi, Mundibera, and many others across Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, and Nayagarh districts remain cut off from basic medical access due to a lack of all-weather roads.
Just last week, a pregnant woman in Gobara Sahi, Dasapalla block in Nayagarh district was carried for nearly a kilometre on a bamboo cot due to the same issue.
