Migrant worker's body carried 2 km on cot after ambulance stuck on Kalahandi hill road

The body of a 36‑year‑old migrant worker was carried on a cot for more than two kilometres through rain on Thursday after the ambulance transporting his remains became stranded on a deteriorated hill road in Kalahandi district's Thuamul Rampur block.

Balasing Majhi, 36, of Shungergarh village under Serkapai gram panchayat, died on September 8 in Andhra Pradesh when a boat carrying him sank while he was en route to feed fish at a farm in Gudivada. Following a postmortem at Gudivada Government Medical College and Hospital, his body was being transported to his native village by ambulance early Thursday. The vehicle got stuck about two kilometres from Shungergarh after one of its front tyres burst on the Serkapai‑Jam Ghat road.

The Serkapai‑Jam Ghat road has been in poor condition for a long time, with potholes, mud and steep stretches that prevent vehicles from proceeding. With no alternative, family members and villagers carried the body on a cot through the rain for more than two kilometres before reaching Shungergarh.

The incident has once again brought attention to the connectivity problems in Thuamul Rampur block, where several villages across its 24 gram panchayats continue to lack all‑weather roads. Residents say that patients, pregnant women and bodies are often carried on cots in areas where ambulances and other vehicles cannot reach because of poor road connectivity.

The problem is not limited to Shungergarh. Several remote pockets, including Serkapai, Nakarundi, Talambpadar and Karlapat, continue to face basic infrastructure challenges despite the region's natural and mineral resources.