Woman ‘revived’ by jolt on road: NHAI says ‘no potholes’ on NH-74 stretch but ground reality different | Bareilly News

PILIBHIT: Multiple cracks and potholes were found to be present on a stretch of National Highway-74 where a critically ill woman from Pilibhit was revived, as per her family, after the ambulance carrying her home hit a bump. Following a report by TOI on the woman’s recovery, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had disputed references to potholes in the account.In a letter issued on Wednesday, the authority said that the highway stretches in the area are “pothole-free and traffic-worthy” and maintained as per prescribed standards. It further said that the Bareilly–Sitarganj section is currently under construction and that temporary traffic diversions have been provided at certain locations in line with Indian Roads Congress (IRC) guidelines.

However, a visit on Thurday by a TOI team on the route taken by the ambulance while going from Bareilly to Pilibhit — through Rithaura, Hafizganj and Nawabganj — found several damaged patches on the carriageway, including cracked surfaces and depressions resembling potholes. Photographs taken at the sites — with GPS coordinates and timestamps — showed sections where the road surface appears uneven and broken.Read also: ‘Brain-dead’ woman jolted back to life by pothole in UPSome stretches of the highway were also seen to be undergoing widening work, with traffic moving along partially completed sections and temporary surfaces at certain points. The stretch came into focus after the family of Pilibhit-based Vineeta Shukla, 50, said she began breathing again when the ambulance transporting her home from a hospital in Bareilly jolted while passing over a rough patch of road. She was later admitted to another hospital in Pilibhit, where she recovered.NHAI also said in its letter that the viral video related to the incident does not attribute the woman’s recovery to a pothole, stating that it only shows she “suddenly regained her breath” while being transported from hospital to home. Kuldeep Kumar Shukla, Vineeta’s husband, told TOI on Thur that he noticed her breathing again after the ambulance struck upon the pothole-riddled stretch of the highway.”I had asked my family to prepare for her last rites. She was not breathing, there was only a sinking heartbeat. As the ambulance reached Hafizganj, it struck a large pothole and the vehicle moved violently. I noticed then that my wife started breathing normally again… I immediately informed my family to suspend all the funeral preparations, and rushed her to the Neurocity Hospital in Pilibhit,” Shukla said.Dr Kamal Jindal, who examined Vineeta at Medicity Hospital in Bareilly (from where she was being taken by ambulance to Pilibhit), said that there were “no reflexes in her brain and it was virtually inactive.” On being queried whether she had been certified as “brain dead”, Dr Jindal said that “we normally do not label a patient ‘brain dead’ as it is usually done by a panel at medical colleges especially in cases of organ donation. However, we use the term to convey to the family in simple language that the patient’s brain is not active.”Dr Rakesh Singh, neurosurgeon at Neurocity Hospital, Pilibhit, who treated Vineeta after she started breathing, added that her Glasgow Coma Scale (a 15-point neurological scale used to objectively assess a patient’s level of consciousness following brain injury), had dropped to three points (deep coma) against the normal level of 15 points. “The examination of her eyes induced mydriasis (dilation of pupils), indicating the death of her brain and constantly sinking signs of life. It was definitely a brain dead-like situation. The only saving grace was that she had started breathing. Consequent treatment helped in her recovery, which was remarkable.”