On October 12, a car and a bus collided in a narrow hairpin bend of the Charmadi Ghat, where the lush forests form a treacherous wall on either side. The district control room was contacted, which informed the local police, who, in turn, called a hotel owner in the area.
Whether it is road accidents, landslides or even rapes and murders in the ghat section of National Highway 234, U. Hasanabba (63) has been the first responder. “The ambulance and the police are in Belthangady, around 40 km away. It takes them an additional hour to come to the spot,” he said.
Captivating and dangerousHis hotel is among the last signs of civilisation till the next village of Kottigehara in Chikmagalur district, 20 km away. Within 15 minutes of a phone call — whether it is 3 a.m. or 3 p.m. — Mr. Hasanabba arranges for earthmovers to tackle landslides, or people to take care of tree falls, or even rushes out in his vehicle to aid the injured. His stories paint a picture of the ghats that is equally captivating and dangerous. In 1988, he played a crucial role — as acknowledged by the Dakshina Kannada district police — in transporting passengers to hospitals after a bus plunged 100 feet down an embankment around midnight.
The hotel owner has also been an important witness for the police: for instance, in the sensational murder of a Visakhapatnam jeweller whose decomposed body was found in Charmadi on February 9, 2012; or, when his group rescued a woman who had been stripped, gang-raped and dumped in the forests nearly a decade ago.
His informal services took shape nearly four decades ago, when he followed the police to an accident spot. “Though the accident had happened in the night, it was only known of in the morning. The doctor had said the driver could have been saved if he had been taken to hospital in time,” said Mr. Hasanabba.
However, it was in 1985 that he consciously decided to make it his mission. A lorry toppled in the ghats, leaving two men unconscious and bleeding. Local people informed him of the accident, and he rushed the injured to hospital. With no known address of the two men, he traced the showroom where the lorry had been brought, searched out an address, and contacted the family in Moodigere, he said.
Mr. Hasanabba said that when the men were discharged, the gratitude of their kin gave him the resolve to continue.
‘Hospital needed’He said there was a dire need of a government hospital in Charmadi to provide emergency treatment to victims. For the past four years, a committee of villagers has been pursuing the authorities — even collecting Rs. 1 lakh as deposit for the hospital, he said.
“But due to political differences over the location of the hospital, the proposal has been stalled,” said Mr. Hasanabba, who is the 2002 district Rajyotsava award winner.
