Pregnant woman carried for 6 km as ambulance fails to reach Andhra village

Visakhapatnam: A pregnant woman was carried to a primary health centre by locals who hurriedly assembled a makeshift stretcher using bedsheets and bamboos. The locals walked over six km from Anuku village to Gottivada panchayat, where they found an ambulance to take her to Narsipatnam, another 20 km away.

They managed to reach Gamila Limgo to the PHC in time at Narsipatnam on Friday, where she delivered of a child through C-Section. The mother and child are doing well, said district medical and health officer Ronanki Ramesh.

Anuku village is in Kotauratla mandal in Visakhapatnam district. There are no motorable roads. Asked why Ms Limgo was shifted to the PHC in this manner, Dr Ramesh said: “Due to lack of proper roads in the interior areas of the district, the villagers had to carry her. After carrying her on the makeshift stretcher, she boarded a 108 ambulance.”

The road to Anuku is inaccessible for four-wheelers, but three-wheelers manage to enter the village. This facility too was out of bound due to the recent rains.

The government has introduced two-wheeler mobile ambulances in interior villages; 42 such ambulances are serving the tribal areas.

Payakaraopeta MLA V. Anitha tendered an unconditional apology for the inability of 108 ambulance to reach the village. She assured that the state was in the process of developing the roads.