Bhawanipatna: The Niti Aayog had announced Kalahandi as an ‘Aspirational’ district way back in 2021. However, the lack of development of proper infrastructure continues to plague the district. Essential requirements of life remain inaccessible to majority of residents living in Kalahandi district. The grim situation can be aptly explained by the scene in which villagers of Ranipadar village under Talajhapi panchayat of T Rampur block are seen carrying a sick woman on a cot through the swirling waters of the Indravati river. They have been forced to do so as there is no bridge to connect the village to the other side. The villagers are well aware of the risk they are taking while wading through a river in spate. However, for the sake of residents of the village, they are forced to take risks.
Sources said that the woman identified as Sundar Majhi suffered an acute attack of diarrhoea and soon turned critical. Despite the swirling river, family members of the ill woman and other neighbours decided to carry her to the other side where an ambulance was waiting. They succeeded in their mission and the woman was safely taken to the T Rampur Hospital. This has become a regular affair for the villagers as there is no alternative route to the village which is cut off from the mainland. Scenes of villagers carrying pregnant women and patients wading through the over-flooded Indravati river are a regular sight during monsoons. The villagers have been demanding the construction of a bridge and a road to their village. However, their pleas are yet to be addressed.