A pregnant woman in Raigad district, near Mumbai, was carried for kilometers in a makeshift sling to a hospital because no ambulance could reach her village. The incident highlights the stark lack of basic infrastructure, like roads, in tribal communities located ironically close to the modern Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
A pregnant woman was transported to a hospital in a homemade fabric sling when the lack of a motorable road prevented ambulance access, serving as a sobering reminder of the infrastructure deficiencies that still persist just outside of Mumbai. The incident happened at Umbarane Wadi in the Raigad district’s Khalapur taluka, which is only a few kilometres from the Khalapur Toll Plaza on the Mumbai-Pune Motorway and about 80 kilometres from Mumbai.
Visuals from the region depict locals helping the pregnant lady to safety while navigating slick rocks, uneven terrain, and rushing streams. Afterwards, she was brought to Chouk Hospital to give birth. After going into labour, the woman—identified as Ananta Pardhi’s wife—had to be carried by the locals along a treacherous woodland trail to Chouk Hospital. Residents made a sling out of a bedsheet and trekked several km across steep terrain and streams to get medical assistance because there was no suitable road going to the tribal village.
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Decades after independence, Umbarane Wadi is one of four tribal communities, along with Pirkadwadi and Arkaswadi, that still lack basic amenities like electricity and all-weather roads. Residents claim that the recent strong monsoon rains have washed away the short walkway that connects the village to Chouk, making access even more challenging, according to a News18 Marathi article.
Ironically, the isolated villages are close to the Mumbai-Pune Motorway, one of India’s busiest roads, and the Morbe Dam, which provides drinking water to Navi Mumbai. Locals have criticised the occurrence, questioning the government’s boasts of progress while basic connection is still lacking in villages that are only a short distance from one of the most advanced motorways in the nation.
The contrast has drawn sharp attention as motorists continue to pay tolls at the Khalapur Toll Plaza for travelling on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, while residents living just a few kilometres away are still forced to carry patients on foot due to the absence of a proper road.