Shillong, Oct 5: The West Khasi Hills district administration has sought reports from three departments following the death of a three-year-old child from Domkyrkoh village while being taken for medical assistance.
Reports have been sought from BDO, Rambrai Block; DMHO, West Khasi Hills; and Executive Engineer, PWD (Roads) to establish a sequence of events and assess healthcare, transport and road connectivity challenges.
According to preliminary information, the administration in a press statement said, the child fell critically ill at Domkyrkoh and required medical attention. Village falls under Mawkhiat Sub-Centre, a functional PM-ABHIM sub-centre operational for about a year, located around one-and-a-half hours on foot from Domkyrkoh under Rambrai PHC.
A transport arrangement under Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Scheme is available in the region for emergency transfers, but preliminary information indicates local health workers were not informed about the child’s illness when symptoms began and mechanism could not be activated.
Vehicular access to Domkyrkoh is through Mainop and becomes non-motorable during heavy rainfall and adverse weather. Public transport is also limited, it said.
To assess ground realities, a multi-disciplinary team from the Health Department will conduct on-ground field inspection at Domkyrkoh on October 6, with further visits planned over following days to assess healthcare needs and accessibility and emergency response challenges.
Health and administrative teams will submit detailed field reports on healthcare requirements, transport constraints and other issues identified. Findings will guide immediate measures to strengthen healthcare access and emergency response, while PWD (Roads) will pursue execution of a sanctioned 10-km road from 4th km of Rambrai-Mawrok PMGSY Road to Nonglang via Domkyrkoh under CRIF.
The administration further expressed concern over the tragic loss and said it would closely monitor the situation and take appropriate measures based on departmental reports and field assessment.
