News: Abhijith N Kolpe

Pics: Ramesh Pandith

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jun 2: In what can be termed as a shocking decision for numerous ambulance drivers and owners, the state government, in an order dated May 10, has ordered to stop and de-register Maruti Omni van as emergency response services ambulance in the state.

The information came to light only on June 1 after an owner of an Omni ambulance was informed of the same by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in city.

The notification was issued by the State Transport Department on the recommendation of Health and Family Welfare and Ayush Services Bengaluru, Technical Standing Committee, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Department of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. The order says that Maruti Omni is not safe as it frequently meets accidents and also that there are no functional requirements for road ambulances in it.

Root of the matter

Tempo Travellers have been used as ambulance in the state. State government's ‘108’ emergency ambulance service also uses Tempo Travellers. In the recent times, a few organisations and hospitals have registered Maruti Omni as on-road ambulances which have been reliable in many situations. It is also the most preferred vehicle in case of emergencies. Lot of organisations such as SSF, Tulu Rakshana Vedike and others have Omni ambulances registered in the name of their organisations. Even minister U T Khader has donated an Omni ambulance to Wenlock hospital.

The latest notification dated May 10 directing the scrapping of Omni ambulances came to light when the owner of Ganesh Ambulance, Gangadhar, who runs six Omni ambulances attached to Wenlock hospital and the police department, visited RTO office in Mangaluru for the purpose of inspection of his vehicles. His Omni ambulance was sent back without inspection citing the reason that the government had scrapped the registration of Maruti Omni ambulance.

Owners of Omni ambulance bear brunt

There are many who own and run Maruti Omni as ambulances. Their future looks bleak as they have become helpless due to the new notification.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Gangadhar said, "Omni ambulances are used across the district. The government now says that Omni is an unsafe vehicle and has decided to scrap its registration. What will be the situation of those drivers who have availed huge loans to run these ambulances for their daily bread? What will be the solution?"

"This ban, all of a sudden is unacceptable. Omni is the most preferred vehicle as it can move even in narrow roads whenever there is any emergency. We are not against the ban of the vehicle, but there should have been an early intimation or enough time should have been given to us. But RTO never gave any information about the notification to any of our drivers in the district. When we visited the RTO, the staff over there said that even PM Narendra Modi had issued demonetisation orders overnight and both issues are same. Ambulance Driver Association and Bajrang Dal have written to the centre demanding the withdrawal of the order," added Gangadhar.

Tulu Rakshana Vedike president Yogesh Shetty Jeppu who also runs ambulance under his organisation said, "This is totally wrong. Maruti Omni ambulances were introduced for emergency cases and to take patients to the hospitals. It is important for a patient to reach hospitals on time. In many situations, in case of emergency, we take accident victims in auto rickshaws and cars. So it does not mean that even those should be banned. This order is meaningless and should be revoked at the earliest."

RTO justifies order

When Daijiworld queried regional transport officer G S Hegde, he said, "The orders passed by the government directs us to de-register Maruti Omni van as emergency response services ambulance in the state. Omni is not suitable to be used as an ambulance as there is no enough space to keep equipments such as breathing equipment and many more."

While the officer is defending the ban, RTO in Mangaluru failed to pass the information even though they received the notification on May 10. The news now has led to chaos among ambulance drivers and owners in the state.