No ambulance, Kupvi residents move High Court

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 31

The residents of far-flung Kupvi block in district Shimla have been running from pillar to post for a functional ambulance for the last six months but to no avail. With their requests to the Health Department and political representatives yielding no result, the residents have knocked on the doors of the high court.

“We are left with no option other than going to the court over the issue. We have approached Chief Minister, Health Secretary, the NRHM, CMO and local MLA but have received nothing but empty assurances,” said Sudarshan Dhirta, president of a local NGO spearheading the fight for the ambulance.

“We fail to understand why our area is being deprived of as basic a facility as an ambulance,” he said.

Devi Ram Sharma, chairman of the pradhan parishad of the Nerwa block, said the health infrastructure was in tatters in their area comprising 15 panchayats and over 20,000 residents.

“Most patents need to be referred to either Shimla, Solan or Nahan from our area. In the absence of an ambulance, people face a lot of problems in shifting the patients. It’s strange that everyone is ignoring such a genuine demand of this remote area,” he said.