Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: A lone 108 ambulance serving the people of Canacona in emergency situations needs ICU treatment.
All four tyres of this Ambulance bearing registration no. GA07 G1452 are in such bad shape that the vehicle, which is supposed to run at high speed on the already bad roads, is in precarious condition.
While overall, the Ambulance is well-equipped with the life–saving requirements, serious questions are raised regarding the running conditions of the Ambulance. All four tyres have turned bald with no tyre grip, making them dangerous and unworthy for the road.
More so, the vehicle is transporting sick and serious patients, and people wonder how the health authorities could allow vehicles in such pitiable and road-unworthy conditions to ply on the road, let alone carry the patients in dire need of faster immediate medical attention. “Travelling in this Ambulance is itself a life-threatening experience. The tyres can bust at any time or get punctured, leading to an accident. Is this Ambulance a direct ticket to hell?’, questioned people on minutely observing the said conditions of all four tyres.
When questioned, a source closely related to the 108 ambulance services informed the media that they were aware of the tyre’s conditions and had already informed the authorities concerned but are helpless as the change of tyres is not permitted before the vehicle runs 50,000 kilometres.
However, people are raising questions about the rules for replacing worn-out tyres and asking how far it is safe to run an ambulance on bald and slippery tyres. ‘The Ambulance is also destined to run fast for picking –up injured or from sudden exigency spots and transferring them to the hospital/s. With the tyres of president condition, it looks like the Ambulance itself is operated from an ICU Bed’, opined a resident.
People have appealed to the government, particularly, the Health Minister to bring out the 108 ambulances operated for the people of Canacona from the ICU care it is presently in by replacing its bald and worn-out tyres to avoid the befall of any major calamity.
