Odisha floods: Doctor, aide swim across river to treat patients

KORAPUT: Come hell or high water, Anant Kumar Darli and Sujit Kumar Pujari will not stop in the path of duty, even if it means swimming through. In an extraordinary display of dedication, govt doctor Darli and his assistant Pujari swam across a flooded Odisha river in deluge-hit Malkangiri district Friday to reach patients suffering from water-borne diseases.Darli and Pujari, part of the team at a primary health centre in Mathili block, learnt that several residents of Bara village were down with such diseases. Realising the villagers would not be able to make it to the health centre in such a situation, Darli and Pujari set out for Bara. But once they reached the flooded Kiang river, they found the current was too strong for a safe crossing. With no other option available, the two swam across the river."Since villagers couldn't reach the health centre and there were reports of patients in need of treatment, we didn't think twice before swimming across," Darli said later. In Bara, the two treated over a dozen patients and distributed medicines. "This courageous act underscores lengths to which health workers in remote areas go to serve communities, braving dangerous conditions," said Rama Patnaik, a social activist of Malkangiri.