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Kanpur mishap: Timely medical help could have saved some lives, say villagers
When the people rushed to the community health centre (CHC) in Bhitargaon with the injured women and children, thinking they could be saved, they did not find the doctor. The rooms of the CHC were locked and only a nurse and a ward boy were there.
Kanpur: Post the Saandh tragedy, the efforts of the villagers to save people came to a nought in the absence of adequate and timely police and medical help.
When the people rushed to the community health centre (CHC) in Bhitargaon with the injured women and children, thinking they could be saved, they did not find the doctor.
The rooms of the CHC were locked and only a nurse and a ward boy were there.
People from five villages had undertaken the rescue and relief operations in the absence of any help from the local police or administration.
They brought tools from their houses and shops to lift the trolley out so that the people under it could be extricated. They struggled for half an hour in vain. A JCB that they arranged pulled out the trolley within minutes and then they started taking out the bodies.
ADG Kanpur Bhanu Bhaskar suspended SHO, Saandh, Ajay Pandey and four constables of police response vehicle (PRV) for not acting promptly. Bhaskar said the policemen would face an inquiry.
But the villagers were livid at the absence of doctors.
They created ruckus at the CHC, seeking an explanation from officials who assured them this negligence would not go unpunished.
An official said on condition of anonymity that though this would be covered in the magisterial inquiry, a separate inquiry would be ordered.
Dinesh Kumar of Laxmanpurwa village said some of the people he took out were alive and could have been saved with timely treatment. “There was no doctor and one came quite late. The nurse and ward boy could not have done anything,” he said, adding that everyone was angry.
Soon after the accident, the people from Gambhirpur, Saandh, Laxmanpurwa, Ganeshkheda and Paanikheda rushed to the site, informing the 112 and the local police. Despite timely information, neither the crane nor any help reached the spot, said Hari Om of Gambhirpur village.
“A JCB was passing by and we requested the driver for help. He lowered the earth mover in the pond and lifted the trolley out,” he said. “In this process, crucial 25-30 minutes were lost. Timely help would have saved some people,” he said.
Commissioner, Kanpur division, Raj Shekhar was not available for his comments.
