Bandh makes commuting to city hosps difficult for those from far-off places
Times of India | 29 August 2024
Kolkata: The 12-hour bandh called by BJP in the state on Wednesday made commuting to hospitals difficult for common patients. Most of these patients, coming from far-off places, were stranded on Sealdah or Howrah-bound trains for long due to the bandh. Having reached the hospitals after the stipulated OPD timings, many from Murshidabad, Bolpur or Jalpaiguri had to stay back on the hospital premises to try their luck for OPD tickets the next day.
When Sk Kausar from Bolpur took his ailing grandmother to SSKM Hospital, he discovered that the doctor had left after OPD.He decided to spend the night with the patient under a tree on the hospital campus and queue up to get an OPD ticket on Thursday. “We were on the Viswa Bharati Express, which was running late and then was stranded near Bandel station when agitators blocked the railway tracks. Our next ordeal started when we reached Howrah station. There were few taxis and the drivers were fleecing. I requested one to take us to the hospital for Rs 200. By the time we reached, the OPD was over,” Kausar said.
Like Kausar, Ranjit Mal from Murshidabad and Abu Taher from Jalpaiguri spent nearly 20 hours on two other govt hospital campuses. Mal, who travelled around 223 km by train to miss his father’s check-up at the NRS hospital OPD, said, “I boarded a Sealdah-bound train from Lalgola around 6 am, which halted frequently because of the bandh. My father has excruciating pain in his left shoulder. There is no point going back home now so, we are staying back for a check-up on Thursday.”
Taher, whose nose has been bleeding for the last few days, was stranded on the way to Sealdah on the Uttar Banga Express. “I missed the check-up at Calcutta Medical College. I reached Sealdah almost three hours behind schedule. Since I have no relative or friend in the city, I’ll spend the night on a bench or lying on a plastic sheet and wait for an OPD ticket on Thursday,” he said.
Bishu Sardar from Habra had to return home as he could not get his wife Jharna, a patient of severe throat infection, examined at the OPD of NRS Hospital. “Very few trains were plying in the morning due to stirs in the Sealdah-Bongaon section. We boarded a train around 8 am but reached Sealdah after four hours as the train was getting stuck in several places. I will have to bring her to the hospital again on Thursday. The bandh has inflicted pain on suburban commuters like us,” he said.
Injamul Gaji from Maslandapur had a harrowing time reaching Calcutta Medical College where his brother is admitted. “I had to wait for more than an hour to get a Sealdah-bound train. It was then stuck due to disturbances triggered by the bandh. I had set out from home around 7 am but reached the hospital in the afternoon,” he said.