Due to the drivers' continuous strike halting public transport in Odisha, a 95-year-old woman from Sikabahal village of Nuapada's Sinapali block had to trek for nearly 20 km to get anti-rabies injection on Wednesday. The nonagenarian, Mangalbari Mahara, was undergoing treatment after a dog bit her. She was supposed to take her final anti-rabies injection on Wednesday. However, due to lack of transportation facilities due to the ongoing strike, Mangalbari and her son Gurudev Mahara had to walk for around 10 km to reach Sinapali community health centre.
In spite of her weak health and old age, the old woman was able to walk to the health centre with the aid of a walking stick and with Gurudev as support. After getting the injection, they walked back to Sikabahal.
Sinapali BDO Karmi Oram stated, "I heard of the incident through news today. The association, who has organised the strike is to be blamed for such a situation. In addition, the family could have borrowed a vehicle from someone and taken the woman for vaccination.
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At the same time, drivers' association district president Durga Charan Bishi added, "While we are continuing our protest, we have not interfered with important services. Neither the concerned family nor the authorities had given us an intimation of this specific incident. If we were informed, we would have definitely provided all required assistance."
He went on to say that it is the duty of the administration to make sure that proper facilities are available to deal with the situation and accusing the association was 'not justified'.
After the accident, several people criticised the family as to why they did not call an ambulance to provide help. The family, however, blamed ignorance. "We did not know if 108 ambulance can be called for vaccination. We could have hired a two-wheeler, but my mother would not have been able to ride on it. We could not arrange for any other vehicle, so we had no option but to go on foot," added Gurudev.
Sinapali CHC's medical officer Srimaan Sahoo stated ambulance services are only meant for sending patients to hospitals and not returning them home since two-way service might disrupt other emergency pick-ups.
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