E-Paper
MP: Water ambulance brings relief to 50 inaccessible villages in Dhar district
The water ambulance serving the people living along the villages on the banks of Narmada river in Barwani, Dhar and Alirajpur has turned out to be a life saver for the people living in these areas.
The water ambulance serving the people living along the villages on the banks of Narmada river in Barwani, Dhar and Alirajpur has turned out to be a life saver for the people living in these inaccessible areas.
Most of these 50 odd villages, scattered around 200 km long stretch do not have proper road connectivity and taking patients by road is a very difficult task in normal condition and almost an impossibility during the monsoons.
These ambulances which are being provided by Narmada Samagra have been operating in the region for the past three years. The service is free of cost much to the relief of the people who are mainly poor tribals.
The ambulance comes every Wednesday to the Katarkhera village of Dahi tehsil and people from nearby villages also come to take advantage of the ambulance.
If there is any patient in the village, the villagers wage a red flag and the boat comes to the shore. As the boat can travel in even two to three feet water it can be come right up to the bank.
The boat ambulance is equipped with a minor operation theatre, oxygen cylinders and also a cold storage for life saving drugs. It also has a telephone connection, which serves as a helpline.
In case of emergency, the boat can travel as fast as 30 km/hour. Medical staff and doctors on river ambulance provide consultation, treatment, dressing of wounds and conduct minor operations.
Narmada Samagra coordinator at Dahi, Gopal Prajapat says that every day the boat ambulance provides primary treatment to 50 to 60 patients. It holds camps at 15 villages and people from 35 adjecent villages come to get treatment.
"There was no access to health services in this area and many villagers used to die to due to lack of medical facilities in our village. We had to tie patients with bamboo carts to ferry them to the nearest hospital, which was about 50 kilometres away. For us, boat ambulance service has come as a god sent," said Chachkuan former sarpanch Kalu Singh.
The idea of the water ambulance was conceived by Anil Dave, a senior BJP leader, who during his travel along the Narmada river saw the poor condition of medical facilities in village along the river.
