India’s rickshaws are finding a new life as makeshift ambulances as the country continues to grapple with a Covid-19 surge.
ONCE known for transporting tourists, the autorickshaw has been turned into ambulances as India continues to struggle with a second Covid-19 wave.
The Delhi government, in association with a non-profit organization, has retrofitted more than a dozen auto rickshaws with hand sanitizers, face masks, oximeters, and on-demand oxygen cylinders.
Earlier this month, Al Jazeera reported about Mohammad Javed Khan, a 34-year-old driver in Bhopal who sold his wife’s jewelry to convert his vehicle into a small ambulance.
“A critically ill patient cannot be brought to the hospital without oxygen support,” Khan said. “It’s not as spacious as an ambulance, but it can surely save lives.”
A donor provided him with some of the supplies while a doctor taught him how to use the cylinder and oximeter as he drove the patients safely to the hospital.
India Today reported that Khan had actually ran into trouble with authorities because he was operating without a permit amid an emergency lockdown.
The charges were withdrawn and he was given a special pass after an outcry in social media.
New Delhi took a page from his book and have started to operate their own official ambulance rickshaws for free since Tuesday.
"If everyone stays home because they are scared, then who is going to help those in need?" said Raj Kumar, who has taken patients to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi's largest facility.
Mohit Raj, founder and executive director of the Turn Your Concern Into Action foundation, have pointed out that since they began operations, they saw that they needed more vehicles, drivers.
Not only are the makeshift ambulances getting calls from Covid patients but also from people with other ailments and other cities asking them to start services there.
The state reported more than 12,000 new infections on Monday (May 3), with one in five people tested receiving positive results. (HD)
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