10 men in Jharkhand's Ramgarh form rescue team to help road accident victims

RAMGARH: A group of 10 men from the villages of Dulmi block have formed a highway rescue team to help persons injured in accidents along the Sikidiri valley stretch of the Gola – Ranchi state highway.
The 10 km stretch of the busy highway with its treacherous curves and a high gradient has witnessed over 50 deaths due to road accidents in the past couple of years.
Sudhir Manglesh (30), who is one of the founders of the highway rescue team, said: “It was extremely sad to see how the injured lay helpless on the roadside. So we floated a team of volunteers two years ago. We are in constant touch with the hotels and Dhaba operators along the highway who inform us immediately about an accident so that we can respond quickly. The injured are taken to government hospitals in Gola and Ramgarh for treatment.”
Manglesh said his team members rescued over 200 people who were injured in several road accidents and took them to hospitals for treatment in the past one year. Bipin Kumar, another member of the rescue team, said: “Our volunteers remain on standby near the accident prone stretch of the highway till late in the night. Upon getting information of an accident, we rush to the spot and begin rescue work because the local police station is 25 km away from the accident-prone zone and they take time to respond.”
“The Sikidiri valley stretch of the highway is prone to frequent accidents due to the movement of heavy trucks, trailers, buses and cars. Commercial vehicles take the road because there is no toll plaza,” another member of the rescue team said.