HYDERABAD: With rains impacting road traffic and leading to congestion across the city, the task of handling emergencies and preventing misuse of facilities becomes more difficult. Speaking to TNIE, Hyderabad traffic DCP Rahul Hegde says that amidst rains, helping an ambulance through gridlock is nearly impossible.
“Ambulances, like any other vehicle, get stuck in traffic despite the best efforts of commuters to give way. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, people can’t always differentiate if an ambulance is on a genuine emergency call or not. This delay in response times can be critical,” Rahul added.
Amidst this chaos, traffic police have voiced concerns about the misuse of ambulances. The officer points out that even diagnostic centres are using ambulances. “We will soon be coming up with measures to keep these non-emergency vehicles off the roads. We are also ready to discuss the issue with health officials to ensure that ambulances are properly equipped. Diagnostic centres causing fake emergencies will be controlled,” the traffic DCP mentioned.
Asserting that there would be stricter regulations in place, Rahul said, “Ambulance drivers will be monitored from one point to the next, with police communication ensuring they pass through traffic quickly. If an ambulance does not pass the next checkpoint, it will be monitored and released.”