Every second counts for a patient in need of urgent medical attention but it’s a fact yet to be realised by our policy makers who want fast lanes for them and neglect the requirement of time saving stretches for a dying person. The Bariatu Road upto Booty ‘more’ if at all will be known for anything it is to expose the brute reality that ferrying a patient to some of the renowned hospitals in and out of the city is not an easy job.
Apollo hospital situated in Ormanjhi is the nearest medical facility where patients of Ranchi are referred by almost all city-based medical institutions. RIMS, the government owned premier hospital is also situated on Bariatu road, where the critical patients are referred in emergency.
Ambulances of city-based hospitals are used to carry patients to these renowned hospitals however most often than not the ambulances fail to maintain speed not because of traffic but potholes and more than 18 craters that fill up either because of water seeping through broken joints of water pipelines laid along the road.
“It (Bariatu Road) is more dreaded stretch for ferrying a patient to hospital out of the city or to bring patients from outside to a city based hospital. People usually give us passage but despite that we cannot maneuver through larger potholes and lanes that become narrow due to pipeline repair work. I can’t risk a patient’s life so I avoid that Road,” said an ambulance driver of Sadar Hospital, Upendra Jha.
The road is widely used by private vehicle owners to enter or leave the city. But irrespective of the direction one moves it meets the same obstruction. The stretch is normally avoided by ambulances used by government hospitals as they are not as comfortable as the vehicle of private medical organizations. The entire 5-km road is dotted with about 18 craters deep and wide enough to reduce speed of big vehicles, more than 50 potholes, and too many patches of repair work that tells the story of the institutional apathy that had remained immune to change in Government.
“Our vehicle can bear shock of plying on the street so we can use the stretch in a much better way. Still, we cannot maintain the speed due to holes dug up for work or water filled bowls that somewhere covers entire lane. The road is full of patches that make the surface uneven. So, in any case it does gives up goose bumps when we use it in emergency situation,” pointed out a driver Ranchi Children Hospital that was stuck near Booty More.
The road has been the bone of contention between Road Construction department and Drinking Water and Sanitation Department (DWSD) with the former holding responsible the latter for the pathetic condition of the road. The DWSD, however, has washed its hands of the controversy whereas officials of Road Construction department chose not to share the secret of their inaction.
“All water pipelines have been shifted so there is no problem because of repair work going on along the Bariatu Road,” said Engineer in Chief of DSWD, DD Sharma.Incidentally, the condition of most of the roads in the capital has worsened during the Monsoon with thee road construction department showing no urgency to repair them.
In contrast to the Bariatu Road, the Harmu bypass is free of potholes just to make the ride smooth for the procrastinating government functionaries who seem only in hurry to reach their offices but not in expediting work. The policy makers for whom waiting in traffic is unthinkable and unbearable have managed to get clearance for widening and repair of the pot-less road measuring 7.46km- from New Market to HEC gate. The State government today gave administrative approval to the project worth Rs 20.26-crore.
“Plying on Harmu Bypass is not a problem. Although there are four signals upto HEC gate driving vehicle on this road is far much easier and better than on any of the streets in the city,” said Samsuddin Ansari, an ambulance driver employed with Sadar Hospital.Concerns for VVIPs are paramount evidently because of extra presence of traffic officials on Harmu Bypass to keep the road free of congestion whereas a patient has to be on the mercy of people to allow them to way as traffic officials are difficult to spot on the road that incidentally is the difference between life and death of a dying person.