PABNA, Dec 04: People in Bhangura upazila of the district cannot get proper services from three community clinics in the area as there are no connecting roads to go to the clinics.
Hatgram Community Clinic is floating on a canal and the clinic looks like an isolated island in the rainy season. There is only a bamboo bridge to go to the clinic which is difficult to cross for women, children and patients.
There is no road to visit the clinic at all from the nearby villages. The elderly patients are the worst sufferers due to the miserable condition of the area.
There are other two community clinics - Betawan Community Clinic and Kazitola Community Clinic - in Dishpasar union of the upazila which are facing the same problem.
To go to the Betwani and Kazitola clinics, patients have to go through mud water of two canals.
According to the Health Department, community clinics were constructed in the 2014 to provide healthcare to the doorsteps of poor people. Local people donated land.
This correspondent recently visited all the three community clinics. Betawan and Kazitola Community Clinics are a few kilometers away from the village
Around 14,000 people live in Hatgram, Betwaan and Kazitola villages. Most of the people here are farmers and fishermen. The villages are submerged in water from June to January. There is no good healthcare center nearby. So, people have to rely on community clinics.
Idris Ali, a patient of Hatgram area, said that even in the dry season, going to the clinic requires going through mud. There is no point going in the rainy season with water all around.
The matter was brought to the attention of local public representatives several times but to no avail, he said.
Patient Omar Faruk of Betwen village said the clinic provides first aid and free medicine. Doctors are also available there. But patients cannot go to the clinic due to lack of roads.
When contacted Civil Surgeon Mehedi Iqbal acknowledged the plight of the people.
Physicians and health department staff are also suffering while providing services. The matter has been reported to the upazila administration, he added.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Syed Ashrafuzzaman said, "We have informed the local public representative and chairman after learning about the matter."
"They said they would construct the road immediately." UNO added.
