Woman Infant Carried On Cot Atop Float Across Agra River

A woman and her newborn baby were carried across the flooded Utangan river on a cot placed on a rubber tube in Agra’s Bah area there being no bridge and proper road connectivity. A video of the incident, which went viral, has once again highlighted the long-pending demand for a bridge in the area.

Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Bah, Vinod Kumar said the administration was aware of the connectivity problem, especially during the monsoon. “However, the funds available at the block level are insufficient to meet the requirement. Therefore, a proposal has been sent to the state government,” Kumar said.

The incident took place in Sukhlal Pura village of Bah tehsil. Keshwati, wife of Raggi Kumar, went into labour on Wednesday night. Her family called an ambulance, which reached near Jai Singh village on the Agra-Bah road.

However, the ambulance could not reach Sukhlal Pura because there is no bridge across the rain-swollen Utangan river. To reach the ambulance, family members placed a cot carrying the pregnant woman on a rubber tube and floated it across the river while walking alongside it through the water.

The woman was then taken by ambulance to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Fatehabad, where she gave birth to a baby boy. After being discharged on Thursday morning, the family had to return to the village. Once again, they used a cot placed on a rubber tube to carry the mother and the newborn across the river.

The return crossing was filmed by a girl standing on the riverbank, and the video later went viral on social media. The demand for a bridge over the Utangan river has been pending for years.