ALMORA: A pregnant woman, in her early twenties, was carried overnight on a doli (makeshift palanquin) on an unpaved road that goes through a dense forest, as her labour pains started around midnight. After covering a treacherous 17-km route on foot, the group finally reached a primary health centre at 5:30 am where the baby, a girl, was born around 7:30 am.
The incident has again highlighted how lack of proper roads in the hills is impacting the lives of villagers. Thikalna village in Almora is at least 6 km away from the nearest motorable road and during monsoons, vehicles often refuse to take unpaved routes here for fear of accidents.
