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From preparing food to delivering medicines, Shimla’s Good Samaritans walk the extra mile
With many areas inaccessible by road in Shimla, it is difficult to reach chemists shops and eateries and as such many people are volunteering to deliver such essentials at patients’ doorstep
With the number of patients in home isolation rapidly increasing as the second wave of infections sweeps through Himachal Pradesh, Good Samaritans in Shimla, the capital city of the hill state, are walking the extra mile to ensure Covid patients want for nothing, be it home cooked food or medicines.
With many areas inaccessible by road in Shimla, it is difficult to reach chemists shops and eateries and as such many people are volunteering to deliver such essentials at patients’ doorstep. Vipin Kalta, 29, a technician at a local clinical labour rotary, besides collecting patients’ blood samples at his routine job also supplies cooked food and delivers medicines to patients.
Kalta, whose entire family had been infected in 2020, says, “I go to patients’ homes to collect their blood samples and know from first-hand experience the difficulties they face when suffering from Covid. One my clients told me that he was unable to get cooked food as few restaurants in Shimla provide home delivery, so my wife and I decided to prepare food for Covid patients. I deliver food to nine patients a day.”
Katla had also donated his plasma after recovering from the infection.
Four days ago, Hotel Himland East proprietor Umesh Akre, 73, started a service to deliver food to Covid patients. “My phone is flooded with requests for homemade food,” says Akre, adding, “The situation is grim.”
“On the first day, we delivered food to 40 patients near the Khalini bus stand, Chotta Shimla, and Kanlog. Now, I am receiving calls from far off places requesting food “ says Akre.
Though they are facing difficulty delivering food in areas inaccessible by roads, Akre says they have asked youngsters to volunteer to help deliver food.
Almighty Blessing, a non-profit organisation that runs langars for patients and attendants at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) is also delivering food to Covid patients with the help of Himanshu Chauhan, a 26-year-old tattoo artist.
“We started the home delivery service only a few days ago but are receiving more calls every day. We need more volunteers,” says philanthropist Sarabjeet Singh Bobby of Almighty Blessing.
Chauhan walks nearly 7km on foot to deliver food to patients from his residence in Sanjauli to Chaura Maidan “These days there is no work, so I decided to devote myself to social service in this hour of crisis,” says Chauhan, who owns a shop in Sanjauli .
There are nearly 1,500 Covid patients in home isolation in Shimla who are registered with the government hospital. However, the numbers are expected to be much higher.
