A newborn girl died in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district after the ambulance rushing her mother to hospital got stuck for close to two hours on a badly damaged road in Gadhwar village, in the Bah area. The family has since written to officials demanding action against those responsible for the road's poor condition, and an investigation into the incident has been ordered.
Ambulance got stuck the moment it left the village
The incident took place on September 2. Pradeep Singh, a resident of Gadhwar village, called for a government ambulance after his wife went into labour. The ambulance arrived, picked up the woman, and set off for the hospital, but as soon as it tried to leave the village limits, it got stuck on a stretch of road that had been left in disrepair for a long time without any maintenance.
Two hours, a tractor, and a rope to free the vehicle
According to the family, pulling the ambulance out of the muddy, pothole-ridden road was no easy task. Villagers gathered around and tried for a while before a tractor was finally brought in and tied to the ambulance with a rope to tow it free. The entire effort took close to two hours. The ambulance eventually made it to the hospital, but by then it was too late, and the newborn could not be saved.
Family demands repairs and action against those at fault
After losing their daughter, the family wrote to the administration. Pradeep Kumar asked officials to act against those responsible for the state of the road, and also called for immediate repairs along with regular upkeep going forward, so that no other patient or expectant mother has to go through the same ordeal.
Officials say PWD has been asked for a report
Sub-divisional magistrate Vinod Kumar said the complaint reached him during Tehsil Diwas held on September 5. He said it has been forwarded to the Public Works Department, or PWD, for a report, and that further action in the case will depend on what that report finds.
In Noida, a green corridor saved twin newborns in time
In a similar but very different outcome, Gautam Buddh Nagar district's Noida recently saw traffic police step in quickly to save two critically ill newborn twins. To get the babies to hospital as fast as possible, traffic police set up a roughly 6-kilometre green corridor from the DND flyover all the way to Child PGI in Sector 30. Around 30 traffic personnel helped clear the route, and the ambulance covered the entire stretch in just 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
The twins were born prematurely at 26 weeks, weighing around 700 grams each, and have been battling severe respiratory and digestive complications for the past 47 days. Treatment began at a private hospital in Delhi's Najafgarh area, where it continued for some time, before their fragile condition led doctors to refer them to Child PGI for more advanced care. Both babies remain in critical condition and are currently on high-level ventilator support.
The contrast between the two cases shows exactly how much emergency response speed can decide an outcome. In Noida, coordinated action got an ambulance across a 6-kilometre stretch in under four minutes, while in Agra, a badly maintained road turned a routine ambulance run into a two-hour ordeal.
