Boinda: An ailing man who was being carried on a cot from his remote village to a hospital about 11 km away died midway at Lakshmipur Tentuloi village under Athamallik block of Angul district Tuesday.
The deceased man was identified as Nalini Sahu (55).
Villagers claimed an ambulance was called after Nalini began vomiting blood. The ambulance however could not reach the hill-locked village as there is no road connectivity. The ambulance waited 7 km away from the village as locals put Nalini on a cot and began walking all the way to the ambulance. Nalini however succumbed midway.
Nalini’s death sparked tension in the village as irate locals blamed Nalini’s death on the lack of road connectivity.
Despite the state government and the Centre implementing various schemes for providing healthcare facilities to citizens and introducing emergency ambulance services to ferry critical patients to hospitals, cases like Nalini’s trickle through due to lack of road connectivity to remote villages.
Sources said Nalini was unwell for a long time and was being treated by a quack as the village is surrounded by thick forests and hills and does not have proper road connectivity to the nearest hospital.
His condition turned critical Tuesday as he began to vomit blood. Family members and neighbours called an ambulance to ferry him to hospital. The ambulance came but failed to proceed further from Sishukata due to bad road conditions.
When contacted, Dr Khirod Kumar Sahu of Paikasahi PHC said the ambulance returned midway due to inaccessible road conditions.
Sub-divisional medical officer (SDMO) Dhaneshwar Mohapatra sought the intervention of the administration to address the problems of bad road connectivity which has become an obstruction in providing healthcare to people. PNN
