One of the ambulances at Raiganj district hospital. Picture by Nityananda Sarkar

Raiganj, May 8: Three ambulances bought with funds of the Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana (RSVY) exclusively to ferry injured victims of highway accidents to hospitals are not being utilised for the purpose.

When a truck hit a stationary passenger bus on NH31 at Kanki, North Dinajpur, on Tuesday night, none of the ambulances was made available to take the injured to the nearest hospital.

Suman Singh (17), who suffered injuries, died without getting medical attention.

Six persons had died in the accident — four on the spot and two at Kishanganj Medical College.

The ambulances, which are under the disaster management cell of the civil defence department, are hired by the district hospital and the Islampur subdivisional hospital for transporting patients at Rs 8 per kilometre, sources said.

When told about the ambulances being diverted from the original purpose, civil defence minister Srikumar Mukherjee said he had already asked the district magistrate, Sukumar Bhattacharyya, to submit a report.

The bus plying the Siliguri-Muzaffarpur route was being repaired following a puncture when a truck rammed into it from behind.

Sunayana Singh, who is being treated at Kishanganj Medical College, said after the truck had hit their bus, mowed down passengers standing on the road and sped away, she got down and saw the body of her husband lying disfigured and her son writhing in pain.

“I had a deep cut on my head and I tried to stop a few passing cars, but no driver bothered to take us to hospital. I also pleaded with the local people to call an ambulance. Police arrived at the scene and they, too, could not engage an ambulance. Later, we were taken in their vehicle to the hospital. My son Suman died in hospital,” she said.

Sources in the district administration said the three ambulances were bought for Rs 20 lakh in July 2005. While two were sent to the Islampur subdivision, one was kept at Raiganj.

They were supposed to cater for the victims of accidents along the 170km stretch of NH31 that passes through North Dinajpur.

According to the sources, the ambulances were to be placed at the Chopra, Karandighi and Itahar police stations. But they are used by the two government-run hospitals instead.

The district magistrate said he would look into the matter.