BAJURA, JANUARY 28

Bajura Hospital has brought into operation its own ambulance and hearse. According to the hospital Chief Prakashraj Joshi, the hospital had long been planning to operate such vehicles of its own.

"Actually, we had first started the process to procure such vehicles two years back itself; finally we've managed to get them," said Dr Joshi. The vehicles were bought under tax exemption provision for one million rupees each.

The fund the hospital had got in the fiscal 2020-21 to purchase the vehicles had frozen. The recent purchases were made by using the fund of this fiscal.

Earlier, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, a tipper was used to carry the bodies of people who died from the coronavirus disease due to lack of a hearse.

"We had a tipper and the same was put to use to carry dead bodies in the district, earlier. Now that we've a vehicle for the same purpose, it will definitely make carrying and managing dead bodies easier," said Badimalika Municipality Mayor Padam Baduwal.

Badimalika Municipality health department Chief Tek Bahadur Khadka said the newly procured vehicles will make things easier.

"Lack of these vehicles at the hospital was felt more during the COVID pandemic time, as hardly any vehicles would want to carry COVID patients and dead bodies of the people succumbing from the virus," he said.

While an ambulance provided to Badimalika Municipality by Indian embassy in Nepal five years ago is out of operation, there is one ambulance in operation for Himali and Swamikartik Khapar rural municipalities and Budhiganga Municipality.

A total of three ambulances across the district are out of order.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 29, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.