Airlift for woman to have baby, from Arunachal guv

Arunachal Pradesh governor Brig (retd) BD Mishra on Thursday asked two officers accompanying him in a helicopter to vacate their seats to airlift a pregnant woman from Tawang, situated atop 10,000 feet to Itanagar, where she gave birth to a healthy baby.

The information about deteriorating condition of the pregnant woman fell on the governor's ears during the Tawang Maitree Divas--Friendship Festival Day celebrations on Thursday afternoon, when an MLA was informing chief minister Pema Khandu that she needed immediate evacuation to a hospital but chopper service between Tawang to Guwahati was not available in the next three days.

Overhearing the conversation, Mishra immediately asked Khandu to bring the lady and her husband to his chopper to take them to a hospital in Itanagar, the state capital. But the chopper had to land at Tezpur air station in neighbouring Assam for refuelling but the pilot detected a technical snag soon after refuelling and the flight had to be aborted.

"The Governor got very concerned about early evacuation of the patient. Accordingly, he made a requisition bid to the Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, Tezpur for requisitioning another helicopter. Since there was no helicopter available at Tezpur Air Force Station, the Governor made a further requisition bid for another helicopter, to evacuate the patient to Itanagar. The Governor also arranged for an ambulance with a lady gynaecologist ready at Raj Bhavan helipad to take the patient without any loss of time to hospital. She was finally taken to Heema Hospital at Itanagar, where she underwent a successful emergency caesarean delivery," an official statement said.

Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China often depends on helicopters to transport serious patients and VIPs due to poor road condition and during rainy season.