Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress on Monday question the BJP’s claim of development in Uttar Pradesh after a video of a pregnant woman being carried on a bullock cart through a muddy, waterlogged road went viral on the internet.
The video shows the woman being transported on a rickety bullock cart after an ambulance allegedly failed to reach her village due to the non-motorable condition of the road.
Sharing the video on X, Yadav accused the state government of "turning ambulances into bullock carts".
"Under the BJP's misrule, ambulances in Uttar Pradesh have turned into 'bull-ances'. Will a trillion-dollar economy run on bullock carts? The chief minister should look at the condition of roads and ambulances during his next field visit, or use Delhi's binoculars or drones if needed," Yadav wrote in Hindi.
He also urged Uttar Pradesh's health minister to show genuine concern for people's hardships beyond ceremonial appearances.
The Congress party also highlighted the plight of the village in a post on X, adding pressure on the state administration to address the infrastructure deficit.
The incident occurred on Saturday in Parsadwa Dera Gau Ghat Chhani village in Hamirpur district, where 23-year-old Reshma was forced to undertake a harrowing three-hour journey on a bullock cart to reach medical care after she complained of labour pain.
Her 60-year-old father-in-law, Krishna Kumar Kevat, took her to the Sisolor Community Health Centre, which is approximately seven kilometres away, on a bullock cart. When the family had called for an ambulance, the driver refused to enter the village, citing the non-motorable condition of the road, according to media reports.
Left with no alternative, Kevat arranged the bullock cart to transport his daughter-in-law through the swampy and uneven track. The journey through the waterlogged terrain took nearly three hours before she could be transferred to the ambulance at Bhaturi village.
Doctors at the health centre informed the family that the delivery was still two days away and discharged Reshma after primary treatment. Her condition is now reported to be stable.
According to Rajendra Kumar, a local resident, the three-kilometre road connecting Parasdava Ka Dera to the main road network has remained unpaved since Independence.
"During monsoon, the road turns into a swamp. Several letters were sent to panchayat and block officials, but in vain," he told ETV Bharat, adding that several villagers have died due to lack of timely medical treatment.
Around 500 residents in the area face similar hardships every monsoon as the road becomes impassable, effectively isolating them from nearby towns. "In emergencies, we have no option but to carry patients on our shoulders or bullock carts," social worker Arun Nishad told PTI.
The villagers' frustration reached a tipping point in March 2024, when social worker Rajendra Kumar Nishad went on an indefinite six-day hunger strike demanding road connectivity. The then sub-divisional magistrate had assured them that construction would begin after the Lok Sabha elections, but no work has commenced even after more than a year.
Following the political uproar, District Magistrate Ghanshyam Meena issued a letter clarifying that a cement concrete (CC) road exists in Parasdava Ka Dera, but residents of this community have built houses at their farms.
He stated that a kutcha road has been constructed up to the panchayat, but the road from the village to Bhulsi remains unpaved.
The district magistrate assured that the road would be paved "on a priority basis whenever adequate funds are available."
Block development officer of Maudaha, Raghavendra Singh, said CC road work had been initiated from the canal to Parasdava Dera under the MNREGA scheme but remains incomplete due to budgetary constraints.
Villagers have now appealed to the district administration and the local MLA to intervene and ensure the construction of a proper road connecting their settlement to the main road network.