Pune (Maharashtra): A 65-year-old woman bitten by a snake in a small hamlet here having no proper road had to be carried on a makeshift stretcher by locals for over two hours to cover a distance of eight km to get her medical help.
A stretcher was made out of "bedsheets and bamboo logs" to carry Barkabai Sangle from her house at Chandar village in Maharashtra's Pune district on Tuesday, her son Babu Sangle told the media.
Later, after being provided primary treatment at a health centre in Khanapur village, the woman was admitted to the government-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune city where she is currently undergoing treatment, he said.
Babu Sangle, who works in Surat, said that his mother was bitten by a snake near her house in a village on Tuesday afternoon.
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"As there is no proper road, no vehicle can ply to our village. So my brother and other locals, without wasting any time, took her on the makeshift stretcher till they reached a proper road near Panshet dam after over two hours," he said.
"From Panshet, my mother was taken in a private jeep to a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Khanapur, located another 15 km away, where doctors gave her first aid and referred to the Sassoon Hospital," he added.
A resident of Chandar village said that there is no road for almost seven to eight km from their place.
There was a 'kaccha' road (dirt road) but it got washed away completely during rains this year, he said.
"Since there is no means of transportation, during emergencies, people have no option but to carry the ailing persons on a makeshift stretcher and walk almost eight km, while covering a difficult terrain amid the Sahyadri range, to reach the road," he said, on condition of anonymity.
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