Nagpur, Aug 14 (PTI) People carrying a cot with a patient on their shoulders through muddy paths and hilly terrains to reach a hospital is a common sight in areas near Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

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Of late, the primary health centres (PHCs) in Gadchiroli have been seeing a number of patients being brought from neighbouring villages of Chhattisgarh.

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Talking to PTI, Gadchiroli's Bhamragadh taluka health officer Dr Milind Meshram claimed that patients from Chhattisgarh were coming to Maharashtra because of lack of proper medical facilities in the neighbouring state's villages located along the border.

He said the PHCs and hospitals in Gadchiroli receive 20 to 30 patients from Chhattisgarh every month and the number rises to 50 from July to December when more cases of malaria are reported.

Earlier this month, a woman from a remote village in Chhattisgarh suffering from malaria was brought to a PHC in Gadchiroli.

The woman's family members brought her on a wooden cot carried on their shoulders.

The PHC had sent an ambulance for her to the spot where road connectivity was available.

The woman was admitted to Lahiri PHC with symptoms of malaria, bodyache and paralysis of legs.

She was later shifted to the Lok Biradri Prakalp Hospital in Hemalkasa for further treatment. But, her condition started deteriorating and she died after a few days.

Dr Meshram, who is working as the medical officer in the region for last eight years, said some of the Chhattisgarh villages located along the Maharashtra border in a circumference of 60 to 80 km lack health services.

"In case of an emergency and for other medical services, the tribal villagers from Mettawada and Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh prefer coming to Gadchiroli for treatment," he said.

In the absence of proper road connectivity and forest area, they have to walk on foot for a major part of the route to reach the PHCs, he said.

An Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) from a PHC in Bhamragadh taluka said they get 10 to 15 patients from Chhattisgarh every month for the treatment of fever, diarrhoea and other ailments.

Dr Meshram said the Maharashtra health department is able to provide medical services to the last village on the state's border.

"Though there are a few difficulties due to road connectivity in the interiors and hilly terrain, we are able to reach out to the last and remotest village on Maharashtra border, and also provide health services to patients coming from bordering Chhattisgarh villages," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)