Boinda: With the lone ambulance at Boinda Primary Health Centre in a pathetic condition, the residents here under Kishorenagar block in Angul district are no longer depending on it. For taking patients to doctors and the health centre, they are arranging their own vehicles.
The plight of patients travelling in the ambulance came to the fore Saturday. A patient from Handapa area was being taken to the Boinda PHC in it. The family members discovered during the journey that it was very painful and suffocating for the patient to travel in the vehicle. They ditched it and arranged another car in which they took the patient to the Angul district headquarters hospital.
“The ambulance’s air conditioner and fan have been out of order for six months now. The window panes are also not in proper condition. When it rains, the water seeps through. It affects the patients and also damages other equipment in the ambulance. Hence we have no option but to hire private vehicles which are expensive,” said some villagers.
“The Boinda Citizen Forum has taken up this issue with the Collector on many occasions, but to no avail,” observed villagers Chintamani Pradhan, Abhiram Sahu, Rajendra Sahu, Bhagwan Gheewala. They said they have urged the district administration to get the ambulance repaired immediately.
PNN