Days after the Bengaluru Police Commissioner ordered traffic policemen to prioritise ambulances over VVIP movement, an ambulance in a rush to a hospital was held up as Home Minister G. Parameshwara’s convoy blocked traffic in front of the Congress office on Monday.
Around noon, after a meeting of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee at their office on Queen’s Road, vehicles were blocked to allow the convoy to pass. Stuck among the vehicles was an ambulance that was headed from Santosh Hospital to Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital was stuck in the traffic. “We were taking a cardiac patient, who was critical as he had multiple organ issues... We heard the ambulance was delayed for around 10 minutes due to the traffic block,” said Inayatullah Shariff, CMO, Santosh Hospital. Once the convoy left, traffic was allowed. “The SI who stopped the traffic was asked for an explanation. He claims the ambulance was more than 200 metres away, and he couldn’t here the siren. It could have been unintentional as sirens of smaller ambulances are not audible at long distances,” said R. Hitendra, Additional Commissioner (Traffic).
