Dhar: A ‘boat ambulance’ initiative has been started with the aim to provide better health services to tribal population living on the banks of Narmada river in the districts of Dhar, Alirajpur and Barwani in Madhya Pradesh. The boat ambulance will run between hilly regions of Vindhyachal and Satpura to ensure that the tribal people living on the banks of Narmada in these districts can get the emergency health facilities. The initiative has been started by an organisation Narmada Samagra Nyas and it has been working continuously for the last 15 years to provide health, education, and agriculture related services. The aim of the organisation is to provide better health services to every person.
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Speaking to ANI, Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon said, “Narmada Samagra Nyas has done good work. I would like to remember the efforts of former BJP Rajya Sabha MP late Anil Kumar Dave who provided the inspiraton to continue with the work. He started this initiative in 2011 and at that time the villagers feared it wont succeed but it succeeded and villagers have received its benefit.”
Now, this new boat ambulance is more advanced, it has 1.5 times more space. The ambulance is powered by a petrol engine of 40 HP and it will run silently. The ambulance will cover about 100 km radius in a week according to its route map. There will be a resident doctor in it, essential life saving services will be provided and its route of five days will also be pre-planned, he added.
The administration has been asked that the people should be informed about the ambulance. All the necessary support, including the government team which include, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, 108 ambulances, will be given to them, the minister said.
He added that not only Madhya Pradesh but also the districts of Gujarat and Maharashtra would benefit from the boat ambulance as the border of three states were joining here. The boat ambulance would be very helpful in the coming days in the area.
Mr Dattigaon said,
Besides, we face a challenge in this area that we don’t communicate properly due to unavailability of mobile towers. Therefore, we have planned to set up a temporary radio station in the old boat. A discussion about the frequency is going on with the police department. We also requested BSNL to set up a few towers in the area to improve the communication.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
