Pregnant Adivasi women face hardships during rains due to poor road connectivity

ADILABAD: The inhabitants of the agency areas, especially patients and pregnant women, are facing hardships due to disruptions in road connectivity to their villages during the Monsoon season.

Ambulances and autos are not reaching many villages due to the massive damage to roads amid the heavy rains in the Adilabad district.

The problem is acute in agency areas. The villagers face hardships also due to the overflowing of streams and rivulets during the monsoon.  Notably, some of the pregnant women are not able to go visit PHCs for medical checkups and remain at home since they cannot cross the overflowing rivulets and streams to reach the mandal headquarters.

Many incidents of villagers being washed away in the rivulets and streams while crossing them have been reported in the past.

Pregnant woman Pendore Anitha, 21, and her family members of Yempalli village in Narnoor mandal said they faced difficulties in going to hospital due to bad road connectivity. The parents wanted to shift her to the PHC in Nirnoor and called an ambulance but it did not reach their village. The vehicle stopped at the main road.

Parents took Anitha on a bike for a distance of 2km from their village to the main road and from there the Ambulance reached her to the PHC late at night on July 17. Anitha gave birth to a male baby. However, two days later, the Ambulance got stuck in the mud on the road when it was taking her back to the village after her delivery.

Kotnak Devidas of Yempalli village said there were three more pregnant women in the village facing difficulties in going to the PHC in Narnoor for medical checkup.

After reaching the main road, they have to travel a distance of 10km to reach the Narnoor mandal headquarters.  The road was majorly damaged over a stretch of 2km due to the heavy rains. Even the autos will not come to their village due to the bad road condition, he said.

Devidas said people of many interior villages were facing such grim situations in Gadeguda mandal.

Villagers of Ghanpur-Kallurguda are also facing a lot of hardships to reach the PHC in Danthanpalli in Utnoor mandal, which is 5km away from their village and there was poor road connectivity.

Two days ago, pregnant woman Atram Savitri, 23, of Chinnu-Maruthiguda of Ankapur GP, was made to walk a distance of 2km to reach the main road from their village. Then she was taken in an ambulance for medical treatment at RIMS, Adilabad. She gave birth to a baby girl at RIMS. Also, there is no proper connectivity to Maruthiguda village though a road was set up two years ago.

Pregnant woman Renuka Bai of Kallurguda walked 8 km to reach Danthanpalli PHC via Utnoor. This was a shortcut to reach Danthanpall via Kothaguda village.

Two days ago, pregnant woman Gangubai of Jendaguda village had a hard time reaching the Danthanpalli PHC in Utnoor mandal to get iron tablets. She walked a distance of 3km via Morripet to avoid crossing the overflowing rivulet near Jendaguda.

Another pregnant woman of Chinnuguda also faced transportation problems in reaching the Danthanpalli PHC for treatment. She walked a 3km distance to reach the PHC.

Thudum Debba district president Godam Ganesh said Adivasis, especially pregnant women, urged the state government to construct high-level bridges on rivulets and streams so as to improve road connectivity to the interior areas.

The Adivasis have to cross the overflowing rivulets and streams in interior areas as there is poor road connectivity to many interior villages in Boath and Bajarhathnoor mandals. The villages of Dedra, Girjai, Mankapur and Gosai Umda are located in interior areas of Bajharhathnoor mandal. The police department had adopted the Dedra village.

BRS Utnoor MPP, Pandra Jayawanth, said the BT road was washed away between Salewada (K) and Pulimadugu gram panchayats following the heavy rains in Utnoor mandal. Road connectivity was badly hit between these two mandals.