Tribal Woman Dies After Two Days in Queue For Fertiliser in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: A 50-year-old tribal woman died after spending two days in the queue and one night under the open sky at a fertiliser distribution center in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district, officials said on Friday.

The tragic incident took place in Bageri village late on Thursday night.

Bhuriya Bai joined the queue at the warehouse in Bageri on Tuesday to purchase fertiliser. She had to return empty-handed due to the nonavailability of fertiliser and stood in a long line again on Wednesday to secure the fertiliser.

She failed to secure the fertiliser since the urea stock in the warehouse reportedly ran out.

She considered it wise to spend the night at the warehouse to join the queue the next day, on Thursday morning to get fertiliser, official sources said.

She, however, could not withstand the biting cold and her health started deteriorating after she vomited.

The locals tried to arrange an ambulance to take her to the hospital. But it could not be arranged.

A local farmer finally arranged a vehicle and took her to the hospital in Bamori, officials said.

She was later shifted to the district hospital in Guna when her health deteriorated. Later, she died in the hospital.

The incident triggered public outrage.

Guna district collector Kishore Kumar Kanyal said that the woman had high blood sugar and an ambulance could not be arranged at late hours.

He, however, denied the reports that there was an acute shortage of fertiliser in the area, saying that there is adequate supply of fertiliser.