Kolkata, Jan. 12 -- Two pilgrims attending the Gangasagar Mela were airlifted to Kolkata on Monday after falling ill at the mela ground and were admitted to MR Bangur Hospital in Tollygunge, officials said.
Santlal, 64, a resident of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, was the first to be evacuated by air from the mela this year. He developed health complications at the mela ground and was diagnosed with hypertensive epistaxis before being referred to MR Bangur Hospital. Later in the day, Bimla Devi, 77, from Jhajjar district of Haryana, was also airlifted from the island. She was diagnosed with a metatarsal fracture.
Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty said emergency transport arrangements had been put in place to ensure quick evacuation of patients from the island. "Water ambulances have been deployed to ferry patients swiftly, and an air ambulance is also stationed at the mela. If anyone falls seriously ill, the air ambulance is being used to transfer them to hospitals in Kolkata. So far, two patients have been evacuated by air," he said.
Officials said the medical response system at the annual pilgrimage includes 12 advanced life support ambulances, 10 ambulances for infectious diseases, 80 general ambulances, three water ambulances and one air ambulance deployed at the mela ground.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.