For a few Murbad villagers who are based in the hilly areas, reaching the nearest hospital that is seven to eight kilometres away is an uphill task.
With no proper roads and the only two car ambulances given to them by the Zilla Parishad being defunct for over two months, the villagers are forced to carry patients including pregnant women up and down the hill on their backs or in a makeshift cloth stretcher.
However, with monsoon soon to arrive, the hills will be slippery, making it even more difficult to carry the patients. The villagers have demanded ambulances and better roads to avert disaster in the future.
Several villages like Dharkhindi, Valhiware, Modhalwadi, Bandeshen, Kelewadi, Alyachiwadi, Kumbhala, Lyotyachiwadi and Kombadpada are on the hillocks and nearly seven to eight kilometres from the nearest hospital. The route includes two to three kilometres of steep hill with no road. Villagers have to come down the hill to hire an ambulance or any vehicle to reach the hospital. At present the available ambulance downhill is also defunct.
Shankar Kote, a villager from Lotyachiwadi, said, “Our village is on a hillock and thus we had these two vehicles provided as ambulances near the bus stop. It takes 20 minutes to climb down and 30 minutes to climb up with patients on our backs. At times, we carry them in blankets that are then tied to wooden sticks to make a temporary stretcher. After climbing down, we used to get an ambulance. However now with the ambulances defunct, we wait for the bus, which takes another 10-15 minutes, delaying the admission to the hospital further. Sometimes, our Murbad hospital doesn’t have all the facilities, so they refer us to Ulhasnagar and Kalwa Hospital, leading to further delays.”
Urmila Late, 39, a resident of Wanjale village and a social worker, said, “The village has no roads in monsoon while the mountain is slippery. It is very difficult to carry pregnant women down or take them up in these makeshift cloth stretchers. There are also many snakes in the hillocks that have bitten some of our villagers.”
Most youngsters in the village are out in the cities for work. So, in case of an emergency, there aren’t many to help carry the patients.
Gangadhar Padage, Zilla Parishad district health officer, said, “We have started two AC ambulances for villagers in Murbad Taluka but in some padas it didn’t reach due to lack of roads. We are working on fixing the defunct ambulances and are also improving medical facilities in the government hospital.”
Ram Avchar, Block Development Officer of Murbad, Zilla Parishad, said, “I will conduct a survey of these areas that need new roads and then we will put up a process for roads. As of now, we have not received any application for roads from these villagers and no new road is planned.”