‘Standby’ ambulances for UP purchased 5 months ago, handed over to Meghalaya GVK EMRI

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaApril 30, 2020

If going by a mobile based application ‘mParivahan’ of the Ministry of Road Transport, some of the new life-saving ambulances purchased by the Meghalaya government recently are of five months old.

The state government on Thursday also handed over the new fleet of 25 ambulances to the GVK EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) for dealing with emergency situations due to novel coronavirus pandemic.

The function was attended by the chief minister Conrad K Sangma and health minister AL Hek besides officials of the government and the institute.

The 25 ambulances were purchased through the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) where people from all walks of life and all age groups have donated over Rs 5.5 crore.

However, what caught the attention of the public was that these ambulances are having number plates registered under the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government. On checking, the mParivahan mobile app had stated that the vehicle age is 5 months.

It may be mentioned here that the mobile app is being provided to have easy access to important documents like driving license, vehicle registration certificate, insurance validity, pollution under control validity among other things.

On contacting, GVK EMRI state head Deepankar Choudhury said these (25 ambulances) were actually on standby for UP, which now got transferred to government of Meghalaya.

He said of 100 ambulances on standby in UP, 50 have gone to Delhi operation, 10 to Nagaland and 25 in Meghalaya.

“On request of government of Meghalaya, we say we have these (25) ambulances and that they are already fabricated by us…they are equipped with stretcher, oxygen system and other things which need to be done extra after buying the ambulances,” Choudhury said.

He said the CM has mentioned that the government has paid Rs 4 ½ crore for the 25 ambulances from the CMRF, which means each ambulance has come at a cost of Rs 18 lakh including the GST and fabrication.

“These are new ambulances which have just traveled 1600 km the distance from Lucknow to here. This is our way of supporting the government of Meghalaya in view this pandemic,” he added.

Choudhury further stated, “Some people are asking why UP registration and not Meghalaya registration but when a person become sick and is in emergency, it is the condition of the ambulance and paramedics that will save his life and not the registration number.”

He also lauded the 32-member UP team, who drove for four days to deliver the 25 ambulances till Byrnihat, Ri Bhoi despite the lockdown. “There was no extra charge for delivering the ambulance. The UP team had to cook on the roadside to have food for four days,” he said.

When asked, the GVK EMRI head said of 43 locations, there are 31 ambulances which required immediate replacement. These 31 ambulances have been running for the past 10-11 years coupled with frequent breakdowns.

“From that we will be replacing 25 ambulances (with the new ones). Hopefully with this replacement, we can have 100 percent uptime in all the 43 locations which are spread across all districts of the state,” he said.

Prior to arrival of the new ambulances, Choudhury said that the EMRI has resorted to maximizing the up-time as it was becoming very difficult to maintain and repair the ambulances due to the ongoing lockdown.

Meanwhile, Choudhury informed that the EMRI is also proposing to launch new locations. “The sanction plan is for 12 locations…and for that we need to have paramedics whose training and certification will take two months time,” he said.