Despite no restrictions on the inter-State travel between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by the government, Jogulamba-Gadwal police imposed restrictions on the movement of ambulances at the border near Pullur toll gate on the border.
Dozens of medical emergency vehicles from the Rayalaseema region, especially from the Kurnool and Kadapa districts, were queued on the border with police not allowing the vehicles to come to Hyderabad. All the ambulances were carrying the COVID-19 positives patients who were in need of immediate quality medical assistance. They were being shifted to various hospitals in Hyderabad and as well as in Mahabubnagar.
“All the patients who were stopped by the police were on liquid oxygen support and they need immediate medical assistance, but police are not allowing us stating that there are no beds in Hyderabad and asked us to go back,” family member of a COVID-19 patient who was stopped and forced to go back to Kurnool said.
An ambulance that was carrying a patient who had ‘confirmed booking’ at a private hospital in Hyderabad was stopped and sent back to Kadapa. “They are not even allowing patients even after managing to get a bed at the hospital,” another person said.
More than three dozen police officers from the district were deployed on the border to stop and check each vehicle and send them back if they are heading to the State capital for treatment.
“We have clear instructions from the senior officers not to allow ambulances to Hyderabad in any case. So we are stopping them and asking the family members to arrange for the treatment in AP,” an officer monitoring the movement of vehicles at the border said.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior police official confirmed that they were not allowing the ambulances without any prior confirmation from the hospitals in Hyderabad, which there is a severe shortage for COVID beds.
The situation is similar on the Telangana- Maharashtra borders in Mancherial and Kumara Bheem Asifabad districts in the north Telangana. “Ambulances without any confirmation of bed from the hospitals are stopped and sent back, as the patients should not suffer after coming here. And the measure is also to contain the spread of the virus in the areas,” an officer said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Adilabad in-charge SP Rajesh Chandra said that the situation was peaceful at the Telangana-Maharashtra border in the district. “Only two or three ambulances carrying pregnant women or accident victims are coming to Adilabad from neighbouring Maharashtra. Our borders are open. We did not impose any restriction on the movement of vehicles,” he said.
