Pherzawl, April 13: In a stark reminder of the healthcare challenges faced in Manipur’s remote hill districts, a 40-year-old man was carried nearly 15 kilometres on a makeshift bamboo stretcher after the Primary Health Sub-Centre (PHSC) in Kangreng village, Pherzawl district, was found without medical staff.
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| Villagers carry a patient on a makeshift bamboo stretcher through hilly terrain in Pherzawl district after the local PHSC at Kangreng was found unstaffed. (TNP) |
The incident occurred early Sunday when Chawngsawnthang, a resident of Kangreng village, reportedly developed severe kidney-related pain. His family rushed him to the local PHSC seeking urgent treatment, but the facility was found locked and unattended, with no medical personnel available.
Sources said the Kangreng PHSC is currently non-functional due to the absence of posted healthcare staff, leaving residents of the area without access to basic medical services.
With no ambulance or medical assistance available, villagers improvised a stretcher using bamboo poles and blankets and carried the patient through difficult hilly terrain to Kangrendor, covering a distance of about 15 kilometres.
From Kangrendor, the patient was then transported by motorboat across the Barak River to reach a hospital in neighbouring Assam for further treatment.
The incident has sparked concern among local residents, who say the lack of functioning healthcare facilities in the district continues to put lives at risk. Community members noted that such situations are not isolated, but rather highlight persistent gaps in healthcare delivery in remote areas.
Residents also pointed to the challenges posed by poor road connectivity and the absence of emergency transport services, which often force patients to rely on improvised means to access medical care.
The absence of staff at the Kangreng PHSC has raised questions over the deployment and monitoring of healthcare personnel in hill districts. Local voices have called on authorities to immediately operationalise the health centre, strengthen transport infrastructure, and review the status of non-functional medical facilities in the region.
As of Sunday evening, no official statement had been issued by the district administration regarding the status of the PHSC. The patient’s condition was not immediately known at the time of filing this report.
