Thane, 23 June

A pregnant woman had to be carried in a makeshift palanquin, called 'doli' in local parlance, on Monday due to lack of an approach road to her hamlet in Shahapur in Maharashtra's Thane district, the issue highlighting the critical gaps in health infrastructure in rural areas barely 100 kilometres from Mumbai, the country's financial capital.

A video of 21-year-old Sangita Ravindra Mukane being carried in a doli over a distance of more than one kilometre from her native Chafewadi village to an ambulance parked at Gaidand Road at around 1:30pm went viral on social media.

"She had gone into labour and needed urgent medical attention. She had to be carried in a doli as there is no approach road to Chafewadi, which means ambulances have to wait at Gaidand Road. We are in 2025 but this is the condition of areas so close to big urban centres," said local activist Prakash Khodka.

"Despite repeated appeals, the Nadgaon gram panchayat, of which Chafewadi is a part, has done nothing about constructing a road. Due to the delay, she suffered a seizure before reaching the ambulance, after which she was rushed to Thane Civil Hospital, where doctors have said her condition is stable," Khodka added.

The lack of a road put her life in danger or else she could have been treated at the primary health centre here itself, he pointed out.

Officials of the Nadgaon gram panchayat and the district administration could not be reached for comments.