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Bhubaneswar, Sept 19: Asserting that saving the lives of people in need of immediate medical attention is more important than the movement of VIPs’ vehicles, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday asked police not to detain ambulances on duty while making way for the passage of VIPs’ vehicles on the roads.
Taking exception to the prevailing practice of ambulances on duty being detained during the movement of VIPs’ cavalcades, Patnaik issued directions to police to make sure that ambulances get preference over VIPs’ cavalcades on all roads in the state, said CMO sources. Patnaik said ambulances carrying patients should not be detained at any traffic post or on busy roads under any circumstance.
The CM also issued instructions for construction of special corridors at big squares to ensure that ambulances carrying patients have smooth and speedy passage, said the CMO sources. Officials were also asked to begin construction of special ambulance corridors at squares near major hospitals in the state. Patnaik said he would review the implementation of the new system after a month, the sources added.
Traffic police sources here said that normal traffic movement in the capital city often gets badly affected during the passage of cavalcades of VVIPs having Z, Z+, Z++ and special category security covers. Ambulances often fail to find passage for several minutes at major traffic squares like AG Square due to the heavy traffic. “Construction of special corridors for ambulances would be a boon for people in critical need of medical attention in the state,” said a senior traffic police official.
