Pregnant woman carried for 2 km on a doli

Paderu (ASR district): A pregnant woman had to be carried two kilometre distance on a doli (makeshift stretcher) in pitch dark with the help of torchlight. The incident took place on Friday night at Ballamamidi village in Kondiba panchayat under Ananthagiri mandal of Alluri Sitarama Raju district. Gemmela Ramulamma, of Ballamamidi village, went into labour at around 7 pm. As there was no chance of an ambulance coming to the village since the village has no navigable, her family members and villagers carried her on a doli to Puluguda village, two km away.

From Puluguda, she was taken to the primary health center in mandal headquarters Ananthagiri by ambulance. The family members heaved a sigh of relief as the delivery was normal. K Govinda Rao, honorary president of Andhra Pradesh Tribal Association, 5th Schedule Sadhana Committee, said that many villages in Ananthagiri mandal have no road facility and no medical facilities nearby, so people are living in fear for their lives every day. Ten families are living in Ballamamidi village on the hill.

As there is no road nor a hospital nearby, one has to go to mandal headquarters 15 km away for even a primary health centre. There are many villages like Ballamamidi on the hills of Ananthagiri. In November 2022, a 60-year-old woman fell sick in Gummanti village of Pinakota panchayat under Ananthagiri mandal. But she succumbed to sickness while being carried on doli to a hospital. It is a distance of 18 km to reach the hospital in Pinakota. The patient has to be taken to a point where there is a blacktop road connectivity on doli so that he or she can be taken to PHC on some vehicle. Villagers said that three people of the same mandal died in November last year while being carried on a doli for treatment.

Pinakota ward member K Jamulu said 11 hill villages in Ananthagiri mandal are experiencing a similar plight. Andhra Pradesh Tribal Association's Govinda Rao said that in 2017-18, the tribal welfare department had taken up the road works for 11 villages from Pallagaruvu to Dayarthi at a cost of Rs 1.35 crore and laid gravel at a cost of Rs 35 lakh. However, due to heavy rains the entire gravel was washed away, he said.  He said the government directed taking up of road works under panchayat raj at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore of NRGS funds in 2021, but even though the foundation stone had been laid, the work has not yet started.