NEW DELHI, Aug 8: An ambulance was forcibly halted by the police in Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu on Monday to give way to a state minister’s convoy.
A video showed the ambulance, blaring siren, stopped by police and waiting as the convoy of state school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and district collector Dinesh Ponram rode on. The ambulance, coming from Thiruvidaimarudur side, was halted until 25 vehicles of the convoy of the minister and other officials crossed through the area to go to review the flood situation in Kollidam.
In the video, a woman police officer is seen stopping an ICU ambulance as the minister’s convoy passes and the authorities
in a brazen display of apathy, did not bother to alert those in charge of the convoy’s movement as the ambulance stood still, blasting its siren.
The minister was accompanied by the Collector and other officials. Once their vehicles were halfway through, the ambulance was given way after the first batch of vehicles moved.
Many condemned the police’ action of stopping the ambulance for a few minutes. Though it was a one-way road, the convoy should have been made to give way to the ambulance, they said. The incident once again highlighted the special treatment to VIPs by ignoring common citizens.
Unfortunately, the concerned minister later defended the police action. “Only one side of the Anaikatti Bridge was operational since the other side was being repaired. Since the bridge is narrow, vehicles were allowed to move in batches,” Mahesh said amid massive outrage on social media.
(Manas Dasgupta)