Cut off by Ravi, 9 pregnant women in ‘Us-Paar’ villages rely on hope

Nine expecting women, living in a cluster of eight villages across the river Ravi, are busy praying for divine intervention to ensure nature’s fury does not strike them when the time comes for their respective deliveries.

These eight hamlets, comprising 3,500 odd inhabitants, are called “Us-Paar” villages.

This cluster remains cut off from the mainland when the river swells during the monsoon. A pontoon bridge, constructed by the PWD is the only link between the bunch of the villages and the mainland. The link, however, gets disconnected when the bridge is dismantled during the monsoon. Like it has been detached these days.

Five of the nine women have been categorised to be in the “high-risk” category. A high-risk pregnancy is one where there is a greater chance of complications to set in for the woman and the foetus, or both. Doctors say it does not automatically translate into a negative outcome, but intensive monitoring and specialised care are constantly needed. Such facilities are not available within the cluster. Hence, the first stop for these women is the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Behrampur, across the Ravi. Here, only a general check-up can be conducted because there is no post of a gynaecologist. Consequently, they are referred to the Civil Hospital in Babri, 40 km away.

Old-timers recall that not long ago, a pregnant woman died due to complications. She could not be taken to a hospital because nobody was willing to marshal the boat in the choppy waters.

Not many are willing to travel by the rickety boat for fear of it capsizing. Everyone who boards the wobbly vessel does so with a prayer on his lips. The PWD officials say “nobody has drowned till yet and nobody will drown in the future”. This, inhabitants say, is wishful thinking because a tragedy is waiting to happen.

The boat is in operation these days. However, nobody is sure when nature shows her fierce side and the strong currents of the Ravi turn into a nightmare. “Within moments, the water suddenly starts flowing at a high-speed forcing us to abandon our operations,” says the “mallah” (boatman) Nachatar Singh.

These women are caught in a quandary. What if they face a medical emergency and the boat suddenly becomes inoperable due to the fast flow of the waters?

They are indeed living a life shaped by forces beyond their control.

“Standing in the face of the nature’s fury, we realise how small we truly are,” said one of the women, Kamini Devi. There are just two Asha workers to cater to the medical needs of the entire population of the cluster.

Gurminder Kaur, general secretary, Democratic Asha Facilitators Union, says the administration should hold regular medical camps in these villages. “In this way, the condition of the women can be properly monitored,” she says. Dr Jaswinder Singh, Civil Surgeon, says his office will look into the matter. “We will remove the existing anomalies,” he said.

Punjab