After being pulled up by the High Court for not allowing ambulances and other vehicles carrying COVID-19 patients from Andhra Pradesh to cross the inter-State border, Telangana police on Tuesday partially allowed the movement of vehicles on Tuesday. However, ambulances from Maharashtra were not allowed in Mancherial district.
At Pullur toll gate on the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana border in Jogulamba-Gadwal district, police were checking every vehicle before permitting them to cross the border and reach Hyderabad. “Today we got instructions not to stop any vehicles, especially ambulances, even if they don’t have prior confirmation of bed from the hospital,” an officer on field said.
He said that in the morning they did not let the medical emergency vehicles from the Rayalaseema region, especially Kurnool and Kadapa district. “Earlier, the decision was taken by the senior officers to contain the spread of virus in the State capital,” another officer said.
Since Sunday night, dozens of ambulances with COVID-19 patients in it were queued on the border with Telangana police not permitting them to enter the State, and drive on to reach Hyderabad, without any confirmation of bed. Many were sent back.
The Ramagundam Police in Mancherial district ‘sealed’ the Maharashtra border, despite not receiving any specific orders from the government, and continued not to allow the vehicles.
“We cannot allow them into the town and spread the virus. There is a severe shortage of beds and oxygen here. With ambulances parked on the roadside, COVID-19 patients from Maharashtra are spreading the virus,” a senior police officer said.
He said that unless the family members of the patient get confirmation about the bed from any of the hospitals, they were stopped at the border and sent back.
However, the situation was totally different on the Maharashtra borders in Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Adilabad districts, where police did not put any restriction and allowed all the vehicles.
“There is free flow of vehicles from Madnoor check post. Our personnel conduct temperature and allow the vehicles into the district. The practice of checking the body temperature is going on since there was a surge in cases COVID case in Maharashtra earlier this year,” Kamareddy SP N. Swetha said. Nizamabad DCP (Law and Order) K.C.S. Raghuveer maintained the same.
In Suryapet district, the curbs on the movement of ambulances coming from Andhra Pradesh were lifted at the inter-State border checkpost at Ramapuram cross roads late on Tuesday afternoon paving the way for unhindered movement of the emergency vehicles carrying COVID-19 patients to Hyderabad.
The move came as a major relief for COVID-19 patients bound for Hyderabad for emergency medicare in various hospitals in the State capital amid pandemic situation, sources said.
