Telangana government headed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has come under attack once again for stopping ambulances coming from Andhra Pradesh at the inter-state borders on the pretext that the hospitals in Telangana were overburdened.
At least 40 ambulances coming from Rayalaseema region were stopped at Pullur Toll Plaza on the Kurnool-Jogulamba Gadwal inter-State border saying that there was no permission for them to enter Telangana.
Though some of them had permission from Andhra police, the police said the patients in the ambulances do not have the consent of the hospitals in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana.
The police said they were strictly following the instructions given by the chief secretary Somesh Kumar, as there was too much pressure on the hospitals in Hyderabad and they cannot accommodate more patients from other states.
They said only after getting a nod from the health officials and hospital permissions, they would let the vehicles cross the border. Even those who had online permission from the Telangana police were sent back citing various reasons, including severe shortage of oxygen-supported beds in the State capital.
Several people from Andhra and Rayalaseema wondered whether Hyderabad ceased to be the common capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
“At least for another three years, we have a right over Hyderabad. The hospitals in Hyderabad are not meant only for Telangana people. Anybody from any part of the country can come here and take the treatment,” a patient from Andhra said.
The Telugu Desam Party urged YSR Congress president and Andhra chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to take up the matter with his Telangana counterpart immediately and resolve the issue.