Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police, which has been in the line of fire after the tragic death of a five-year-old boy due to alleged traffic snarl, Friday came up with the actual time that the ambulance took to reach the private healthcare facility from Capital Hospital, February 11.
The family alleged that the deceased, Neel Nithesh Nayak’s life could have been saved had he reached the private medical few minutes earlier. But, the ambulance took around one hour to travel 12 kilometre stretch from Capital Hospital to the private hospital at Patia.
On the other hand, Commissionerate Police informed through its tweet that the ambulance took just 22 minutes to reach at the private hospital contrary to the claims of deceased’s family. The Commissionerate Police tweeted Friday, “Fact Check: CCTV footage show that Ambulance OD 33 Y 6019 took 22 mnts 38 sec on 11th Feb from Raj Bhavan Sq. to KIMS. Raj Bhavan Sq.10:01:40 AM 120 TA Bn Sq. 10:02:37AM Nalco Sq. 10:10:29AM KIMS- 10:24:18AM.”
The big question now is whether the family members have been lying or the police are misleading. Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera told the media that the ambulance carrying Nayak could be delayed only for five to 10 minutes due to the traffic congestion, but the one-hour delay is unbelievable.
Meanwhile, twin city police commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi and DCP (Traffic) Sagarika Nath, Friday, started an awareness campaign, ‘Make Way for Ambulance’ at the Esplanade One Mall urging people to give way to ambulances on the road.