Ambulances turned into ‘bull-ance’: Akhilesh as pregnant woman taken to hospital in bullock cart

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav derided the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday after a video emerged showing a pregnant woman in Hamirpur district being taken to hospital on a bullock cart through a muddy, waterlogged, unpaved road when an ambulance allegedly failed to reach her village.

He asked Uttar Pradesh’s health minister to show concern for people’s hardships beyond ceremonial appearances.

Sharing the video on X, Yadav accused the state government of “turning ambulances into bullock carts” and questioned its claims of development.

“Under 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,” he wrote in Hindi.

The incident occurred on Saturday in Parsadwa Dera Gau Ghat Chhani village, where the pregnant woman was taken about seven kilometres to Sisolor Community Health Centre on a bullock cart by her 60-year-old father-in-law, Krishna Kumar Kevat, after an ambulance got stuck due to the muddy, unpaved road.

The journey through the swampy and uneven track took nearly three hours. Doctors informed the family that the delivery was still two days away and discharged her after primary treatment.

Locals said around 500 residents of the area face similar hardships every monsoon as the road turns into a muddy swamp, isolating them from nearby towns.

“In emergencies, we have no option but to carry patients on our shoulders or bullock carts,” said social worker Arun Nishad, adding the villagers had staged a six-day protest in March last year, demanding a proper road.

The then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) had assured them that construction would begin after the Lok Sabha election, but no work has started even after more than a year, he added.

Villagers claimed they have now appealed to the district administration and the local MLA to intervene and ensure the construction of a road connecting their village to the main road network.

District officials could not be reached immediately for their response on this matter.