Youth Carried 8 km in Doli to Hospital in ASR

Visakhapatnam: A 19-year-old youth from a remote village in Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district was carried eight kilometers on a doli, a makeshift stretcher, to reach medical care after suffering from high fever for four days.

Kosuri Gopichand, a resident of Dabbalapadu village in Rompilli panchayat of Ananthagiri mandal, was taken to Pedaraba through the hilly terrain by the villagers on Wednesday. From there he was transported in an autorickshaw to Gajapathinagaram District Hospital where he was admitted for treatment.

Residents said the incident highlighted the lack of road connectivity and medical facilities in the hill tribal villages of the district.

Gopichand’s case is not isolated. Galabarthi Achchamma, a community health worker serving Dabbalapadu and Gadillava, also fell ill after consuming untreated spring water along with her son Galabarthi Errayya and sought treatment from private doctors earlier this week.

In Moralova village, a couple named K. Gangulu and K. Gangamma took their children Mahesh and three-year-old Gauthamini to a private hospital, where doctors reportedly confirmed malaria.

Villagers said the recurring health problems in these villages are mainly due to the lack of safe drinking water, forcing residents to depend on open springs and streams. Irregular anti-larval spraying has also contributed to the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

They demanded immediate measures, including regular malathion spraying and a permanent solution to the drinking water shortage.

Adivasi Girijana Sangham mandal president S. Kondala Rao urged the authorities to organize medical camps and asked the Project Officer to visit the villages and assess the conditions.

CPM leader K. Govinda Rao said a complaint seeking protected drinking water for Dabbalapadu was forwarded through PGRS on April 17 but no action has been taken so far.