Siliguri, 23rd May: 18 free ambulance services kickstarted amid the second wave of coronavirus pandemic. The said ambulances were inaugurated at Shramik Bhawan in Pradhan Nagar today.
During this period, INTTUC’s North Bengal Coordinator Alok Chakraborty, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sonam Wangdi Bhutia, North Bengal Medical College and Hospital Dean Sandeep Sengupta, Dr Anirwan Roy and many others were present.
Currently, 18 luxury vehicles have been converted into ambulances. The move comes after several allegations concerning shortage of ambulances or ambulance drivers demanding additional fare surfaced from the city. Due to which the common people were facing numerous problems. Keeping this in mind, the said service has been started. The 24-hour service will be available only by calling 9064452434, 7872345861, 7586042888 and 8101772882 contact numbers.
Alok Chakraborty said that this programme has been arranged in compliance with Abhishek Banerjee, President of All India Youth Trinamool Congress and initiative of local administration and municipal corporation. The entire case will be monitored from the office of Shramik Bhawan.
As the ambulance drivers will not be able to go home due to 24 hours of service, Chakraborty appealed to the citizens to be sympathetic towards them. At the same time, PPE kits and masks were handed over by the Municipal Corporation to the ambulance drivers.