Tumudibandh: A pregnant woman delivered a baby girl inside a dense forest at a ghat here in Kandhamal district after an ambulance ferrying her to a hospital developed technical glitches halfway, Wednesday, reports said.
Later, the newborn and the mother had to walk for a kilometre from where another ambulance took them to Tumudibandh community health centre (CHC). As the condition of the mother and the newborn worsened in the CHC, they were shifted to Baliguda sub-divisional hospital.
According to sources, Padmini Majhi (22) of Birimila village under Sirla panchayat developed labour pain following which her relatives contacted an ambulance to ferry her to the local CHC.
However, the ambulance developed a glitch halfway on a ghat. With no options left, the women delivered her baby in the forest. Later, with the help of her relatives who were accompanying her, she was shifted to the local CHC. However, soon after the incident, Tumudibandh BDO Jaydev Das directed the health officials to immediately repair the ambulance.
The incident has spread resentment among the villagers who blamed it on the bad road quality. A road under Gram Sadak Yojana was sanctioned for the village. However, construction for the road has been lying incomplete since the last three years.
When contacted, Birimila ward member Duguna Muthamajhi said the villagers would stage demonstration if the road was not completed soon.
PNN