Rawalpindi-A massive traffic jam in city on Tuesday forced a woman to give birth to a child in an auto-rickshaw on Girja Road.
The passerby women, on request of the woman’s husband, helped her to deliver a baby in the rickshaw.
A labourer Nasir Masih, resident of Chak Jalal Din, was travelling with his pregnant wife to hospital in an auto-rickshaw to the hospital for delivery. However, the rickshaw got stuck in a jam at Girja Road for more than an hour. Nasir raised a hue and cry on the road on which the women rushed to help the pregnant lady. The mother and child were shifted to a nearby maternity centre and are said to be out of danger.
“Nasir’s pleas to motorists to make way for his wife fell on deaf ears. He then burst into tears,” said an eyewitness while talking to the media men.
He said there was no traffic warden present on Girja Road for easing the traffic flow at the time of incident.
A lady, who helped Nasir’s wife in her delivery, said she was going to take her children from school when hue and cry by a man sitting in rickshaw drew her attention. “When we reached Girja Road ,the driver told me that we will not be able to make it to hospital because of the traffic rush,” said Nasir Masih. He added the driver took an alternative route but there was also a traffic jam.
Many people, interviewed by The Nation, criticised the government for not building hospitals for residents in Girja area and its suburbs. They said the patients and pregnant women have to travel for hours to reach government hospitals in city. They said the traffic has been thrown out of gear on all small and big routes due to massive encroachments.
Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Muhammad Bin Ashraf, when contacted, denied any knowledge of the incident. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi Dr Umer Jahangir was not available for his comments.