Pregnant women taken on bullock cart, cot through slushy roads after heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh

Pregnant women and other people in emergency situations have been facing severe problems as many villages in Madhya Pradesh have lost contact with their district headquarters due to inundation after heavy rains.

Two such cases of pregnant women bearing the brunt of poor roads due to overflowing rivers and streams have come to the fore in the last few days.

In one case, a woman experiencing labour pain was taken to hospital by crossing a river in a bullock cart, while in another case, a pregnant woman had to be taken on a cot to an ambulance as the vehicle could not reach her house due to the waterlogged road.

Also Read | Woman delivers baby in ambulance; concern raised over lack of facilities in hospital, poor road

Videos of the ordeal faced by the two women have gone viral on social media.

While a government official said they will probe which department was responsible for the poor road conditions, the Opposition Congress targeted the ruling BJP and asked if the government was making efforts to address the people's woes.

A State BJP leader, however, said road networks were laid up to villages in the last 20 years, enabling people to use health services in emergency situations.

A tribal labourers' organisation warned of an agitation if the government did not take concrete steps to address their problems by August 15.

Sunita, resident of Bod Raiyat village under Chicholi development block, located 60 km from Betul district headquarters, started getting labour pains on Sunday.

Her husband Bablu Adivasi told PTI that when he could not find a way to take her to hospital due to the flooded Bhanji river causing inundation in their area, he discussed the matter with others villagers.

"The villagers showed courage and Sunita was taken across the river in a bullock cart and then to Chirapatla Hospital in an ambulance," he said.

A video shared widely on social media showed the woman lying in the bullock cart and four-five persons pushing it across the river to take her to the other side.

Bablu said his wife later gave birth to a healthy baby in the hospital and both the mother and child were fine.

"If the villagers had not come forward showing courage, I would not have been able to take my wife to the hospital. Anything could have happened in such a situation," he said.

Rajendra Garhwal of the Shramik Adivasi Sangathan, an NGO in Betul, said the Bhanji river passes through the village and several agitations have been held to demand the construction of a bridge over it, but no concrete steps have been taken so far.

Many accidents have occurred in the river, but the administration remains "careless", he claimed.

Garhwal said if concrete steps are not taken towards the construction of the bridge by August 15, then the sangathan will launch a big agitation.

In a similar case, Chanchal, aged around 30 and resident of Barokhari village under Lahar assembly constituency in Bhind district, experienced severe labour pain on Monday.

The Dalit woman's family called an ambulance but it was unable to reach their house, located 60 km from the district headquarters, as the approach road was waterlogged and slushy following heavy rainfall.

Four persons then carried her on a cot through the muddy road to the ambulance.

Zila Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Sunil Dubey later told reporters that an inquiry will be conducted to determine which department was responsible for the poor condition of the road, and further action will be taken based on the findings.

On the poor condition of roads in rural areas during the monsoon, Dubey said gram panchayats get limited funds, making it difficult to carry out many development works.

Garhwal, however, claimed there was no shortage of financial resources in the state, but the work was being postponed by making excuses for the budget.

"But, now playing with the lives of villagers will not be tolerated," he added.

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari shared a video of the Betul incident on X to hit out at the state government.

Referring to the video, he said, "This is the scene from Chicholi area of Ghoradongri assembly constituency in Betul! Is this compulsion to cross the Bhanji river a sign of strong leadership?" Patwari also targeted state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal, who represents Betul in the state assembly.

"The public, tired of protesting, is asking, does the BJP state president not even listen to them now?" he said in the post.

MP BJP media in-charge Ashish Agrawal, however, said, "The Congress should not forget its 50 years' rule during which no development took place, especially in rural areas. By raising such issues, they are exposing themselves and it reflects on their poor track-record of governance." In the last 20 years, road networks were laid right up to villages and that was the reason ambulances were able to reach to the nearest point, enabling people to use the services in emergency situations, he added.

As per the IMD, Madhya Pradesh recorded 645.8 mm rainfall in this monsoon season, compared to 418.4 mm during the same period last year, which is 54 per cent more than normal.