Adil Lateef
SRINAGAR, Jan 7: A pregnant woman hailing from a remote village of North Kashmir’s Rafiabad area of Baramulla district was carried by her family and relatives on a stretcher covering 9 kilometer distance as she was suffering from labour pain and snow clearance on approach road was not done.
Family members of the woman, Haseena Begum, a resident of Dazna village of Dangiwacha zone of Rafiabad, told Excelsior that she was pregnant and developed pain during the night. However, they said, the entire village was under 4 feet snow and the approach road has not been cleared of snow by the local administration.
As the pain grew, the family members and some neighbours decided to carry the pregnant woman on stretcher to the hospital – which is 15 kilometers from the village. The husband of the woman, Muhammad Saddam, said although there is a sub-centre in the village but they received cold response and the Asha worker after being contacted said she was in Srinagar and they were left with no option but to foot the distance to Dangiwacha.
Father-in-law of the woman, Muhammad Azam, said they left for hospital at around 5 am and walked until Hachapora – covering 9 kilometer distance – and then rang up Block Medical Officer (BMO) of Dangiwacha PHC, requesting for an ambulance. “The BMO then sent an ambulance and we boarded it along with the patient and reached PHC Dangiwacha,” he said.
Saddam, the husband of the woman, said the approach road of their village was not cleared of snow even as some bulldozers were seen there yesterday. “We were dead tired while carrying my wife on the stretcher and faced severe difficulties,” he said and sought strict action against the Asha worker for skipping her duty and also castigated administration for not clearing the roads.
Admitting that the pregnant woman was carried on a stretcher up to Hachapora, BMO, Dr Muhammad Maqbool, said the woman was brought to Dangiwacha hospital in an ambulance where she was examined and then referred to Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Sopore. He further said that they have received a complaint against the Asha worker and a committee would be set up to probe the charges and assured of strict action in case the Asha worker is found guilty.
The family members of the woman said that she is being treated at SDH Sopore and is yet to deliver her baby. “Her condition is stable. Some medical tests were performed but so far the baby has not been delivered,” they said and added that had they not carried the woman on stretcher she would have died of the pain along with baby in her womb.
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