CHENNAI: A slum dweller who was resettled to the outskirts of the city at Navalur near Padappai, died after it took nearly a hour for the ambulance to take him to a hospital from the remote locality.
The death has angered the residents of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenements who were already upset over that they have been moved over 50 kilometres from their earlier homes and to a remote area that has no access to basic amenities.
Mani (55), who ran a small tea stall within the premises, had complained of chest pain at around 5 am on Friday morning. Relatives had then called 108 but the ambulance arrived after almost an hour, said neighbours.
"We waited for almost an hour after which he was taken to Sriperumbudur Government hospital but he died of cardiac arrest shortly before they reached the hospital," said the president of one of the two resident welfare associations in the Navalur tenements, P Raja.
"Mani went to his tea shop at around 4 am and returned home at around 5 am after he suffered from easiness," said Raja. The resettlement colony at Navalur now houses around 1700 families, who were shifted from areas such as Aminjikarai, Arumbakkam and Urappakkam.
According to a senior official of GVK EMRI, which provides ambulance services via the 108 number, the staff received a call at around 5:31 am. By the time, Mani was brought to the Sriperumpudur Government Hospital, which was the nearest GH equipped to handle the case, it was 6:25 am.
"The distance between the hospital and the resettlement site is 18-19 kilometres but there was no delay from our side." said the official, adding that the patient was gasping for air when he was brought to the ambulance.
Express had earlier reported that the families resettled in Navalur found themselves cut off from the places they lived and worked, around 56 kilometres away from basic amenities and scrambling for specific spaces- for instance the entrance of a balwadi in the premises, to even receive mobile signals.
Following the incident, around 200 residents took to the Vandalur-Walajabad road, protesting against the lack of access to basic amenities.
"This was not the first time that there has been a death like this. Around three months ago, an elderly resident died at his residence here, as he was waiting for the arrival of the ambulance that also arrived after around an hour of calling. So we decided to protest this time," said A Ayyappan, a neighbour and resident of Navalur.
According to police sources, after half an hour, senior police officials intervened and convinced them to disperse. Said a senior health department official in Kancheepuram, "We have already inquired the 108 service officials. We found that there was no delay on their part."
"The patient was brought dead to the hospital and did not have a history of cardiac problems," he added. The family had left for their hometown in Pudukottai with the body on Friday afternoon and was unavailable for comment. His is survived by his wife and two children.