No ambulance, tribal woman carried in 'doli' for 8km in Vizianagaram
By Newsmeter Network Published on 8 Sep 2020 1:07 PM GMT
Vizianagaram: A tribal woman had to be carried in a 'doli'(a makeshift stretcher) for nearly 8 km to an ambulance as the vehicle could not reach the patient due to lack of proper road connectivity.
Mellika Chunnammi, a resident of Poimala village under Saluru mandal in Vizianagaram district, was suffering from fever for the past few days. There are no medical facilities in and around her village. On 8 September, she was carried in the doli to the ambulance and after arduous efforts, she was finally admitted to the primary health centre at Makkuva in Vizianagaram.
Her family and other local people said that due to lack of proper roads the villagers have no other option but to carry the patients in case of a medical emergency. Even two-wheelers cannot reach their village as the path is hilly and slippery.
A tribal woman had to be carried in a makeshift stretcher (in local parlance Doli) all the way to get a medical convoy (ambulance) which was over 8 kms from her residence at Poimala village under Kodama Panchayat under Saluru Mandal in Vizianagaram district on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/f8NO57sRB7
— NewsMeter (@NewsMeter_In) September 8, 2020
[amp-tweet tweetid="https://twitter.com/NewsMeter_In/status/1303296239409098754"]
This is not the first time such an incident has been reported in north Andhra Pradesh. Over 10 such incidents were reported in the past year alone.
Just a few weeks ago, a pregnant woman, M. Venkata Kumari of the Chodepalli area under Koyyuru mandal in Vizag Agency, was carried in a makeshift stretcher to an ambulance which was over two kms from her village.
Meanwhile, CPM leaders B. Lokanatham and K. Surendra said successive governments have failed to create basic infrastructure in tribal pockets of north Andhra comprising Vizag, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts. They said they will meet Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy soon and request him to build roads in the tribal areas so that such incidents do not occur again.
