THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hundreds of patients and others travelling to Medical College from Kannamoola and Patoor have to rough it out due to the poor condition of the roads. A long time has passed since the roads were last repaired. Potholes have appeared at many places giving travellers a hard time.
The authorities are not doing anything to repair the roads. It seems they are immune to the difficulties that the patients and others undergo while travelling on these roads. To top it all these roads lack footpaths too.
The dividers placed here make it difficult for the vehicles transporting patients to reach the hospital on time.
Calling for speedy renovation of the roads, Dr Ambili of Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital said, “Every day we refer more than ten critically ill patients to the medical college. People from other districts are also referred to the medical college. Poor condition of the roads make it impossible to rush critically-ill patients to the medical college.”
Suhrithu, an ambulance driver, said the drivers find it really hard to transport patients through these pothole filled roads. “We find it really hard to transport patients since we do not have all the facilities provided in a 108 ambulance. We transport around 10 to 20 patients everyday through these roads,” he said.
Autorickshaw driver Densy at Pettah railway station said, “We regularly take patients to RCC. Pregnant women are taken to SAT from the railway station. But the journey becomes tiring due to the poor condition of the road. Most of the time the patients and their relatives ask us to drive slowly. They always complain of bad roads here.”
During monsoon the situation gets really bad. Once the potholes get filled with water, it becomes very difficult to identify their depths. Despite repeated attempts, the PWD officials were not available for comment.