This ambulance can enter narrow lanes with ease

Rajkot: Atul Auto, the pioneer of Sauashtra’s famed ‘chhakda’, is set to launch a low-cost three-wheeler ambulance that has been specifically designed to transport Covid-19 patients.
On Monday, the company donated its first such ambulance to the Rajkot Civil Hospital and is now planning to kickstart commercial production on a big scale.
According to company officials, the diesel-run ambulance is a modified version of its three-wheeler cargo vehicle and the design has been made in such a way that it can easily enter the narrow lanes to reach out to patients.
“We designed this ambulance after a special request was made by the Rajkot district administration. It needs to reach out to patients living in narrow bylanes of residential societies with ease,” Yogesh Ranjan, general manager, Atul Auto, told TOI.
“After the success of this ambulance, we plan to take this model to an all-India level,” said Ranjan.
At present, the civil hospital has X ambulances while the requirement is more due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the city. However, these vehicles and 108 ambulances can’t enter the narrow lanes and the patients have to be brought out on the stretchers, sometimes covering long distances from inside the societies.
The Rajkot district administration is also planning to buy more such ambulances.
According to sources, the company plans to manufacture around 250 such ambulances by the end of this financial year. It plans to commercially customize ambulances as per needs of a particular region.