S Gopal Puri
Dharamshala: A glaring shortage of lifesaving health facilities and poor infrastructure resulted in a tragic d*eath near the Himachal-Punjab border, according to a report by Amar Ujala.
The family of a critical patient was forced to transfer him to another hospital after Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda (TMC) was unable to provide an urgent stent procedure.
The patient, accompanied by his son-in-law and daughter, was being transferred to Dr. Dayanand Medical College (DMC), Ludhiana, late at night after Tanda hospital reportedly lacked the necessary arrangements and equipment.
During this desperate journey, their ambulance met with a horrific accident near the Chhatarmal area when it veered off a rain-damaged road and plunged 300 feet into a gorge. The son-in-law and daughter sustained serious injuries, and the patient died on the spot.
Villagers and the victim’s relatives have raised pointed questions about why a major referral hospital could not perform a basic stent procedure.
This tragic incident has underscored the grim reality faced by patients in the region—where both ailing health infrastructure and dangerous, broken roads during monsoon season make even the hope of emergency treatment a gamble.
Locals stated the Barasat area’s battered roads had turned into veritable death traps, saying that even timely intervention often fails due to perilous conditions.
The ambulance driver, who also sustained injuries, echoed this sentiment, noting that with better-maintained roads, lives could have been saved.
This case, as covered in detail by Amar Ujala, sharply highlights the urgency for immediate investment in adequate medical facilities and safer roads in Himachal Pradesh, so that emergencies do not turn into avoidable tragedies.
