No road, Kullu villagers carry body for 14 km through dense forest

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, May 28

Around 30 villagers carried the body of a woman, who had recently delivered a baby, about 14 km on foot to her remote Shaakti village in Gadaparli panchayat of Banjar subdivision of this district on Thursday. As there is no road to the village, the villagers carried the body tied to a cot through a stony and dense forest, undertaking a tough trek for five hours.

Woman died after delivering baby

Sunita delivered a baby on Tuesday. After her condition deteriorated on Thursday, she was taken to the Civil Hospital in Banjar, where doctors declared her brought dead. As there is no road to Shaakti village, villagers carried the body through a forest by tying it to a cot trekking for over five hours.

Sunita delivered her baby on Tuesday at her maternal home in Galyada village in Banjar. Her condition deteriorated on Thursday and her husband Mahesh Singh took Sunita to the Civil Hospital in Banjar in a private vehicle. However, doctors declared her brought dead and the newborn was referred to the Regional Hospital at Kullu and then to the Medical College at Nerchowk.

The villagers brought the body in a vehicle to Niharni and took it to Shaakti village. They lamented that the claims of the state government of having connected inaccessible villages with roads were a bunch of lies.

Shaakti, Maror and Shugad villages still do not have electricity and road facilities. They fall in the eco-fragile Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) region, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In October last year, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg had visited the villages along with a team of officials of various departments to connect these with electricity and road. However, there has been no headway in this regard.

Public Works Department Executive Engineer Chaman said the matter related to providing a road for Shaakti village was under consideration. He said a survey had been done for the road from Niharni to Shaakti and the village would soon have a road.

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