A health worker from the remote Tood Valley region of Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, has captured national attention after she rode a bulldozer across a raging seasonal stream to reach isolated settlements and deliver polio drops to children on June 28, the day India conducted its National Pulse Polio campaign.
Snowmelt, Surging Water and a Route Cut Off
High-altitude districts of Himachal Pradesh experience rapid snowmelt through the summer, pushing rivers and seasonal streams to dangerous levels. Palzom Butti, deployed in the Darcha area of Lahaul Valley, was on her assigned route that day when she arrived at the Mayad nala and found it completely impassable. The water was running too high and too fast. Rather than turn back and leave her task incomplete, she approached a bulldozer operator who was nearby and asked for his assistance. He agreed to help, and she crossed the flooded stream aboard the machine.
Not a Single Child Left Without the Drop
Once across, she pushed on to the difficult settlements in the area and administered the lifesaving polio drops to the children there. Her effort ensured that no child in that hard-to-reach pocket of the valley was left out of the national immunization drive. The story spread quickly, and people across Himachal Pradesh have been praising her dedication and fearlessness.
A Tradition of Courage Among the State's Frontline Health Workers
This act echoes a similar moment from the previous year. Kamala Devi, a health worker at the Sudhar Primary Health Centre in Chauhar Ghati, Mandi district, crossed a flooded stream during a disaster to vaccinate children. That incident was captured on video and spread widely across the country. Kamala Devi was subsequently honoured for her extraordinary courage, and Serum company awarded her a prize of Rs 5 lakh.
Palzom Butti has now carried that same spirit forward in the Tood Valley. Her story serves as a quiet but powerful reminder of the conditions that frontline health workers navigate every day in India's most isolated corners, making sure government health programmes reach the last child, whatever the obstacle.
