21st Century Tragedy: Villagers Carry Sick on Makeshift Stretchers Due to Lack of Roads in Uttarakhand

The visuals you are seeing on the screen reflect the state of development in the hilly region of Uttarakhand, where due to the absence of roads, villagers are forced to carry a 70-year-old ailing man to the hospital using a makeshift stretcher. This image is from Nakoda and Kapola—two villages located near the Yamunotri Dham in the Yamunotri Assembly constituency.

This shocking and dangerous scene from the 21st century shows how villagers are somehow trying to reach the nearest road with the sick elderly man, and this isn’t the first case—dozens of people have died in a similar manner here.

**Who is responsible for the loss of these villagers’ lives?**  

How long will villagers continue to carry the sick using makeshift stretchers like this? The situation becomes even more critical during delivery cases, where families are forced to leave the village a month in advance and rent rooms in Barkot or other towns just to ensure timely access to a hospital. Despite being located near the Yamunotri shrine, the villages of Nakoda and Kapola still remain without road connectivity. The villagers even boycotted elections, but nothing has changed.