Visakhapatnam villagers carry ill individual on foot for 6 km due to poor connectivity

Despite Central and state governments making efforts to connect rural India to better facilities and infrastructure, some areas continue to face several challenges even today. In one such shocking incident that surfaced from Kanganduva village in Hukumpeta mandal, Visakhapatnam, a villager, who had fallen ill, was carried on foot for 6 kilometres for a health checkup, due to poor connectivity. In the visuals that surfaced from the village, a group of villagers is seen carrying the patient on foot. The villager, identified as Kolli Raju, is currently seeking treatment at a government hospital in Hukumpeta Mandal.

Parts of Visakha Agency remain disconnected from basic healthcare facilities due to the absence of roads or highways to urban parts of the district. Due to this, the tribals and locals in these areas resort to traveling on foot, as there is no scope of doctors reaching the nondescript locations on vehicles.

The patient was brought to a nearby sub centre last evening, where he was taken to a Government Hospital hospital in Hukumpeta Mandal via private transport. It was deemed at the hospital that Raju was suffering with viral fever over the past few days. Reportedly, the patient’s family were worried about him getting admitted into the hospital for treatment due to the rampant spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier in July, a local of Santhari village, Hukumpeta mandal delivered a child through cesarean procedure. This marked the first ever delivery procedure via cesarean in Paderu Mandal. An official press note stated that pregnant women in Paderu due for delivery through cesarean would be sent to hospitals located in urban Visakhapatnam for a safe delivery. However, with the appointment of a new Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Project Officer – Dr Venkateshwar, a medical doctor by profession, medical facilities within the tribal area have been upgraded in recent times.

In a similar incident in Visakhapatnam in 2019, a pregnant woman had to be carried to a hospital in a ‘doli’ owing to poor connectivity to her village. The woman was made to rest in the stretcher made from a cloth tied to a log and was carried along a muddy path by her family members. The incident had taken place in Kothavalasa village, Madugula mandal in Vizag district.