Team Blitz India
RANCHI: Jharkhand’s first boat ambulance service is all set to roll out from Sahibganj district next week, an official said.
The facility will help extend health facilities to over two lakh people living in Diara area, a stretch of land located near the river Ganga.
“Many panchayats are located across the river in Diara area. During monsoon, people living along the waterbody suffer due to the submergence of the area. The area almost becomes inaccessible.
“Several health programmes, including immunisation, come to a halt in the area during monsoon. So, we decided to introduce boat ambulance to provide health services to them,” Sahibganj deputy commissioner Ram Niwas Yadav said on May 13.
The Sahibganj administration has procured two boat ambulances from the fund available with the district mineral foundation trust (DMFT).
Each boat ambulance costs Rs 29.17 lakh. “If we calculate the health facilities provided in the ambulance such as oxygen cylinder, ECG equipment, cabin for patients, lab technician and others, it would come to around Rs 48 lakh,” he said.
The Jharkhand government had recently launched an air ambulance service from Ranchi.
