No Roads, No Ambulance: In Pune's Bhor, 90-Year-Old Woman Carried 3 KM In Chicken Coop After Paralytic Stroke (VIDEO)

Once again, we are reminded of bad infrastructure and poor medical facilites in the rural parts of a progressive state like Maharashtra, where a 90-year-old woman from Shindewasti, a small hamlet in the hilly region of Mhasar-Budruk (Bhor taluka), had to be carried for three kilometers in a chicken coop (locally known as a daal) through slippery, rain-soaked terrain after suffering a paralytic stroke on Tuesday morning.

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Jaibai Kondiba Shinde, grandmother of local gram panchayat member Dinesh Baban Shinde, experienced a stroke around 9am on Tuesday. However, due to the absence of a good road and the muddy paths during the monsoon, no vehicle could reach the remote hut. Villagers had no choice but to carry the elderly woman on foot through the rain and dirt for over 1.5 hours to reach Mhasar-Budruk, the nearest village.

From there, she was taken by a private vehicle to the Bhor Rural Hospital for treatment. The delay in medical help highlights the dire consequences of poor connectivity in remote areas like Shindewasti, which consists of around 25 houses located three kilometres uphill from Mhasar-Budruk.

Even after 78 years of India's independence, several villages in the hilly regions near Bhatghar and Niradevghar dams, and the areas surrounding Raireshwar Fort lack basic road connectivity. During the monsoon, medical emergencies like illnesses, snakebites and childbirth become life-threatening, as patients must be carried manually for several kilometres, often in such coops.

Despite repeated appeals, the administration continues to neglect these regions. Local Sarpanch Eknath Mhasurkar has renewed the demand for constructing a proper road to Shindewasti to ensure timely medical access and basic mobility for its residents.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Mhasurkar said, "We have been demanding a pakka road for this 3.5 km stretch for years now. During the monsoons, this stretch becomes full of perils, and basic facilities like an ambulance can't reach the location, and most of the time, even these facilities are not available. The old lady is fine now, but it's a wake-up call for authorities to understand and take cognisance of our issues."  

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