Incessant snowfall has proven to be quite the challenge in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. As a result, roads are snow-capped and visibility is low enough to cause flight cancellations in Srinagar. Now, amid all this chaos, a heartening story of a pregnant woman's timely evacuation has come to light and it may not melt the snow, but sure does the hearts.
In the dead of the night, a pregnant woman in the remote Kapran area of Verinag in Anantnag district had writhing labour pain. At 4 in the morning, there was no way the family could take the woman to the nearest hospital amid snowy roads. But the help was only a call away.
The PMGSY officials received a call for help from the distressed family, hoping to get emergency help. The officials quickly offered to dispatch light motor vehicles, but the family knew the condition of the roads in the area and said the cars won't reach due to heavy snow on the road. The PMGSY officials were not giving up.
Pregnant woman shifted in JCB
Due to the lack of options, contractor Javed Ahmed thought on his feet and contacted a JCB driver named Arif Ahmed Sheigh of Gorinad Verinag at around 4 a.m. The JCB was quickly dispatched to Trajan and the pregnant woman was evacuated and taken to the hospital.
The pregnant woman along with a few of her family members said near the driver's seat while one another relative sat in the bucket of the JCB. The decision to dispatch the JCB was the right decision as heavy snow on the road would have made it impossible for other vehicles to ply.
A short video of the JCB ploughing through heavy snow-capped roads shows how the timely help was offered to the family, despite all odds. The pregnant woman was safely shifted to a nearby hospital in Qamar area of Verinag and from there she was shifted to MCH Anantnag. Officials confirmed that the woman delivered a healthy baby.
@DCAnantnag#shamful moment
— RAHAT SUHAIL (@rahat_suhail) January 6, 2022
Pmgsy Anantnag Evacuating a pregnant Lady at
Tarjan veerinag Towords Hospital# pic.twitter.com/RAE1U7shqm
Arif, the driver of the JCB, offered his assistance if and when such conditions arise and said he is ready to take risks and evacuate patients of his area to hospital. Peer Mohammad Sultan, assistant executive engineer PMGSY Anantnag, said that snow clearance always remains a challenging task and they always try to clear the road as soon as possible.
