Karnataka: With No Bridge, Villagers Waddle River Stream With 70YO Woman On Stretcher To Reach Ambulance

Due to the acts of a few helpful and considerate souls, it can be safely said that humanity is still alive. Take this incident from Karnataka's Marasanka village of Sullia taluk.

According to a Times of India report, a 70-year-old woman with a fracture was carried in a stretcher across a stream in full flow. The village has faced this problem for a while now since getting a patient to a hospital is the secondary concern - getting them to an ambulance is the first one.

TOI

After the photo went viral, panchayat officials visited Marasanka village and promised to do something about the demand for a bridge. However, the villagers are not very hopeful, said the report.

¡°From the panchayat to Lok Sabha elections, only assurances are given,¡± said Sathish Naik, whose mother-in-law, Devaki, fractured her leg and became the latest ¡°medical emergency¡± in the village.

Sullia MLA and minister S Angara said a proposal for the construction of 23 bridges is awaiting financial approval.

¡°There are 76 villages and all of them have rivers or streams passing by. There is a need for 1,000 bridges, of which 400 have been built so far,¡± he said.

TOI

¡°My mother-in-law, who is speech and hearing impaired, fell and broke her leg on Tuesday. She had severe pain and could not walk at all. Though a doctor visited us, he suggested that she should be taken to hospital,¡± said Naik.

¡°Crossing the stream that joins Payaswini river is a challenge and during monsoon, the water level is around 5 feet and can increase at any time. As soon as the ambulance arrived, we got the stretcher home and with the help of neighbours, carried her for nearly 300m to reach the ambulance. She is now being treated at the government hospital and will have to undergo surgery,¡± he added.

The village falls under the Jalsoor gram panchayat and has nine houses. It is located 10km from Sullia.

Hanumantha Rayappa, assistant executive engineer, Sullia zila panchayat, who visited Marasanka, said the village requires a 15ft-wide bridge with approach roads on both ends. He said the project would cost around Rs 40 lakh.

¡°We will bring this to the notice of minister S Angara at the KDP (state development programmes) meeting on Monday. The village is located on a hill and villagers have to travel for more than half a kilometre to reach Sullia-Jalsoor-Kasaragod road. They are willing to give away a portion of the land for bridge construction,¡± he said.

GP member Mahesh Puchchappady, who arranged funds from villagers of Kamila-Mogra for a 50ft bridge recently, said several villages are waiting for a bridge.

¡°Sullia has remained a reserved assembly constituency, but still, not much development has taken place. Many projects remain on paper,¡± he said.