Shimla ward watch - Krishna Nagar: Taking patients to hospital uphill task here

Navneet Rathore

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Shimla, April 7

Residents of Krishna Nagar ward in the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) fear the worst in case a medical emergency strikes their area — the ward is inaccessible to the ambulance services despite having a road. Locals claim that the authorities concerned do not consider the road fit for plying an ambulance. As a result, patients have to be carried to hospitals in case of an emergency.

Rajinder, a resident Krishna Nagar, said ambulance drivers refuse to come here and prefer to wait at Cart Road. “It is very difficult to take a patient to hospital in case of an emergency. Sometimes a patient has to be carried up steep roads, which causes a lot of inconvenience to everyone,” he said.

The ward is also plagued by the problem of stray dogs. The locals say there’s a lot of fear amongst children as they are the most vulnerable to dog attacks. Raj Kumar, a resident of the area, said most of the streetlights across the ward were malfunctioning, causing inconvenience to commuters at night. “At one place, a streetlight is hanging dangerously,” he said. Krishna Nagar Councillor Bittu Kumar told The Tribune that the ward had very steep road due to which it was very difficult for vehicles to ply here. He said the road was very congested and unsuitable for HRTC taxis.

On the issue of the lack of cleanliness in the ward, he said though cleanliness drives, along with garbage collection, were done regularly, the shortage of cleaners with the Municipal Corporation was hitting the work.

“The issue of the shortage of cleaning staff has been raised in the monthly meeting of the Municipal Corporation, but nothing positive came out of it,” he added.

The councillor said new streetlights were being installed in the ward.