Ailing girl from Chhattisgarh carried 25 km on cot to Maharashtra for medical treatment

The teen from Metawada village in the Bakawand area of Bastar district was on Friday brought by her relatives to the primary health centre (PHC) in Laheri in Bhamragadh tehsil of Gadchiroli.

Gadchiroli (Maharashtra): In an incident that highlights the lack of infrastructure in tribal areas, relatives of an ailing 17-year-old girl from neighbouring Chhattisgarh had to carry her 25 km on a wooden cot to Maharashtra's Gadchiroli for medical treatment. The sick girl's name is Punni Santu Pungati.

The teen from Metawada village in the Bakawand area of Bastar district was on Friday brought by her relatives to the primary health centre (PHC) in Laheri in Bhamragadh tehsil of Gadchiroli, an official said.

The girl's family members made the arduous journey after placing her on a cot and carrying it on their shoulders for around 25 km, he said. Cases of malaria have been on the rise during Monsoon and patients from four to five border villages of Chhattisgarh have been seeking treatment at Laheri PHC as it is closer for them than the PHC at Narayanpur in the neighbouring state, the official added.

Meanwhile, a senior health officer said that though the district administration has ambulances and has shared phone numbers with locals, these villages are situated on hilly terrain, where there are no motorable roads and the network connectivity is poor.

On August 28, the villagers from Karnataka's' Uttara Kannada carried an injured farmer in a sack for 15 km to admit him to a hospital. A video of the same surfaced on social media. The incident took place at Kendagi village in Ankola of Uttara Kannada district. The injured farmer, identified as Umesh Gowda of Kendagi village, sustained a serious leg injury while doing agricultural work.