<\/p>\n
It is a good move that will, hopefully, make life a little less difficult for patients. Government agencies should commandeer all necessary logistical support to fight the disease.<\/p>\n
KMC has a fleet of 22 ambulances, which are kept at its headquarters and borough offices. This is insufficient to deal with the pandemic situation, said a civic official who is part of KMC\u2019s Covid-response team.
It was in an effort to increase the fleet size to 50 that the corporation wrote to the 28 clubs last week. While most ambulances would be used to ferry serious patients, some would be converted into mobile swab-collection units, said a source. \u201cWe have already got eight ambulances from clubs in Bagbazar<\/a>, Ahiritola, Behala and some other parts of the city. These vehicles will now be readily available for patients who may need hospitalization,\u201d said a KMC official.
KMC plans to act tough against the clubs that are yet to respond. \u201cWe may need to take help of the DMA to take possession of the ambulances,\u201d said a senior KMC official.
\u201cWe are consulting our legal officers and may soon send fresh notices to the clubs, which are as yet unwilling to part with their ambulances.\u201d
He added that the civic body was well within its rights to temporarily take over these ambulances, as these vehicles had been given to the clubs in order to take care of hospitalization needs of financially weaker sections of the society.
Apart from requisitioning ambulances, the civic brass has requested ward coordinators to arrange for hospitalization of serious Covid-19 patients by roping in local clubs that have several ambulances at their disposal.
Arup Chakraborty, a ward coordinator who represents the Patuli-Garia belt, said he calls up some neighbourhood clubs that were gifted ambulances under the MP or MLA LAD funds scheme.
\u201cWhile a section of the clubs readily agrees to provide ambulances, others sometimes refuse for fear of infection,\u201d Chakraborty said.
According to the secretary of a club in Bijoygarh<\/a>, which has a couple of ambulances at its disposal, most of the club members were against handing over the ambulances to the civic body for transporting Covid patients.
\u201cIt is true that we have got an ambulance<\/a> under an MLA LAD scheme recently. But we have not handed it over to KMC, fearing infection. If the civic body decides to send a requisition notice, we will be bound to part with it,\u201d he added. <\/div>\n