On Wednesday, 55-year old Murugan (name changed) lost his father-in-law due to the delay in getting him to the nearby hospital. The ambulance that was to transport the patient who had suffered a massive cardiac arrest could not reach his house on time, only because of the blocked roads near the AIADMK headquarters in Royapettah.
Murugan’s house is situated in the first lane on Lloyd’s Road right next to the AIADMK office. Speaking to The News Minute, Murugan says: “On Wednesday morning around 9.30 am, my father-in-law complained of breathlessness. I immediately called 108, and fortunately there was an ambulance stationed at the Royappetah Government Hospital just two minutes away from my house.”
But the ambulance got stuck in the traffic. “The ambulance was first stuck at the entry point of Lloyds Road, because they had blocked the road for the conduct of AIADMK meetings. When the ambulance finally managed to entered my lane, after the police intervened, they were again stuck due to the traffic jam,” he recalls.
Murugan and his family have been staying at Lloyds for the past 16 years, and they have never had to face such a problem before: “But on Wednesday, the ambulance which left the hospital at 9:55am reached my home at 10:25am. It should have been here in just two minutes, but it took half an hour. My father-law had by then collapsed and died by the time the ambulance reached home.”
He is however yet to file an official complaint. “After this incident, I’m very worried that if there is a pregnant woman who needs to be taken to hospital for delivery or someone meets with an accident, the meetings would continue to pose transport hurdles. So many families live here. The irony is that this residential address is known to be among the best locations in Chennai, with easy access to all public facilities,” he remarks.