Struggle of a Bajureli Patient

Takes 6 Days to Reach Surkhet, Transportation cost is 65,000

85-year-old Harikrishna Kaila of Swamikartik Rural Municipality-4 of Bajura is an example of how much suffering the citizens of Karnali and the hilly and Himalayan regions of Far West have to go through for health treatment.

On August 7, Kaila had diarrhea at home. Initially, her family treated her at home. Diarrhea did not stop. After two days of home treatment did not improve, son Azvir carried his father for two hours on the morning of the 9th and took him to the motorable road and from there reserved a vehicle and took him to Kolti.

After my father was unwell with home treatment, I took him to Kolti Airport to take him to Nepalgunj,’ said Azveer, ’even after waiting for two days, the ship did not arrive.'

As it was not possible to take him to a hospital in a big city by air, he decided to reserve an ambulance and take his father to Surkhet. Karnali Corridor has reached Humla through Bajura. He was bringing his father to Surkhet through that corridor. It is not easy to reach Surkhet by road during rainy season. On the 11th, he took his father to Surkhet from Bajura by reserving an ambulance for 20,000 rupees. Unable to cross the Fugad river in Calicut, the ambulance was stopped overnight. ‘Diarrhea was going on continuously, my father had not eaten,’ he said.

The next morning, when the water receded, they floated and stopped again on the Karnali highway. Landslides blocked roads at various places from Tijegada in Calikot to Khidkijeula in Dailekh. The concrete bridge of Dahi Khola connecting Kalikot was also swept away by the flood.

Kaila was being betrayed not only by the ship but also by the road. “There is hope as long as there is breath,” he said. From Jigetada to Khidkijeula, I carried myself in some places and the porter in some places. ‘It took 6 hours to reach Khidkijeula from Jitegada,’ he said, ‘from there I reserved a car again and brought my father to Surkhet.’

It took Azveer 6 days to bring his sick father from Bajura home to Karnali Pradesh Hospital in Surkhet.

‘It is difficult for us people living in the mountains and hills to get health treatment,’ said Ajveer, who was met at the Provincial Hospital Surkhet on Saturday, ‘Transportation is becoming more expensive than treatment.’ Ajveer said that about 65 thousand rupees were spent to bring his father from home to Surkhet. ‘It took 6 days from home to Kolti, from Kolti to Surkhet,’ he said. ‘During this period, I reserved an ambulance and a bolero once, and paid the wages of the people carrying them,’ he said, ‘All in all, 65,000 rupees were spent on the way.’ Now Kaila’s health condition is normal. The hospital discharged him on Saturday itself. He said that 65,000 rupees were spent until his father was brought to the hospital, but only 3,000 rupees were spent on treatment.

The doctor told Kayla to come back in a week. They have no relatives in Surkhet to provide them with food and shelter. After discharge, Ajveer said that he will take his father to Kailali. ‘The money we brought by borrowing ran out on the way,’ he said, ‘Staying in a hotel costs a lot, that’s why we have a relative’s house in Kailali, we go to stay there.’

Source- Nagendra Upadhyay and Lalit Bista https://nagariknews.nagariknetwork.com/social-affairs/1447150-1725151789.html