Nandurbar's boat ambulance will kick back to life soon

Maharashtra state's boat ambulance which is lying unused in Nandurbar district since few months will soon be functioning again. According to the state government's officials, they have hired a team of doctors, paramedic staffs and ASHA workers who will be assigned one-week shifts on a rotation basis to keep the ambulance functional.

The boat ambulance service was launched a few years ago to provide medical facilities to over 30 tribal villages in the Nandurbar district which are not well connected by roads.

Chetan Salve, an activist with Narmada Bachao Andolan NGO, said, "Currently only one doctor is deployed in the ambulance. The other posts have been sanctioned on paper. We hope that other staff will be appointed soon. With only one doctor assigned with multiple charges, villagers are facing inconvenience."

Dr Anup Kumar Yadav Commissioner (Health Services), Maharashtra, said, "Functioning of the boat ambulance was shut due to lack of medical staff. We have made a proposal to deploy medical staff teams on a weekly rotation basis so that they will be easily available for the villagers during medical emergency."

He added, "We have also sanctioned a plan to give them higher salary. The boat ambulance will soon be functional. The team will be of one doctor, paramedic staff and an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) or an ASHA worker."

Anchored

• The service was launched a few years ago to provide medical facilities to over 30 tribal villages in the Nandurbar district which are not well connected by roads
• The ambulances, operating on a stretch of the Narmada river, had been anchored for a few months after the doctors appointed to serve on them quit