The biggest worry of eye patients in Adilabad is the prospect of waiting for transport to and from the Sheshanna Chennawar Eye Centre (SCEC) near Mavala and eye specialist S. Narayan Reddy’s hospital in the new housing board colony.
Both the hospitals are located about 4 km away from the Adilabad bus stand which makes it difficult for poor patients to reach them. The visit to these hospitals becomes more painful especially when patients and their attendants or relatives have to wait for considerably longer durations to catch an auto or RTC bus on their return journey.
Everyday, scores of patients from Adilabad and the surrounding mandals make a beeline for the two hospitals which specialise in eye treatment. The difficulty starts after reaching Adilabad as not many RTC buses stop at the SCEC.
An RTC city bus service does operate in the new housing board but its timings are not suited to patients who reach this place mostly by autos. Hiring autos to the two hospitals means paying an exorbitant price.
Though the SCEC is located on the main road, there is no bus shelter for patients to wait for transport. All the large trees have been felled for widening the road near the hospital.
“The RTC would do well to construct a bus shelter near the SCEC and make all its buses, especially those running towards Adilabad, stop at the hospital.
This would be of much help to poor people,” suggests Sripadwar Ratna, an attendant of a patient in the hospital, who had to wait long for transport to return to Adilabad town on Friday.
