Special Report: ‘Medical Kiosk’ getting ready at Mangaluru Central Railway Station

• Medical service to begin soon at the railway station

Mangaluru: 1^st Incident: A person who had come from Chennai to Mangaluru Central Railway Station fell down from the stairs and sustained grievous injuries. Noticing this, the railway officials called for an ambulance which did not turn up even after 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the critically injured person was shifted to a hospital on a private vehicle.

2^nd Incident: A physiotherapy student from a college in the city collapsed and fell. Those near her assumed that she was having an episode of seizure and therefore placed iron in her hands. However, immediately an ambulance was called and she was shifted to hospital where it was ascertained that she was suffering from some other neurological condition and not epilepsy.

3^rd Incident: As the train arrived at the platform, due to some reason, a woman who was walking quickly along the platform suffered a deep wound on her leg and started bleeding profusely. But nothing could be done. When the first aid box at the station was opened, it was conspicuously missing the medicine! Daily, Managluru Central railway station is becoming responsible for many such incidents.

Daily several people pass through this station and more-or-less, close to 30,000 passengers arrive and depart from here. With the aim to start medical service at the railway station, it has been decided to start a medical kiosk here.

According to sources, South Railways Palghat Division officers have provided the space and in the coming 15 days, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel is expected to inaugurate it. The medical kiosk will be functioning at the left hand side of the entrance to the Central Railway Station. As the ticket counter lies on the front side and since the density of people is more here, many passengers are expected to take advantage of this facility. The creation and maintenance of the medical kiosk has been handed over to Mangaluru’s Unity Hospital. The booth will have a free provision of space, water, electricity facility on behalf of the railway department.

Qualified para-medics will provide there service here daily. Immediate treatment will be provided here for health related problems. If additional treatment is necessary, decision has been taken to appoint an ambulance here also.

ATM services to be restarted?

Since a few months, the ATM’s within the limits of the railway station have not been giving service. A place where three ATM’s used to function now does not have a single functional ATM which is causing much problem to the passengers. Since the railway department is finding the deposit amount decided by the banks for the ATM’s to be expensive, the ATM’s have been closed. Accordingly, the deposit system has been kept aside and instead, the banks will be given the opportunity of bidding to provide their ATM services. Hence, those who will participate in the bidding process and get selected will be given the opportunity to set up their ATM’s. Due to this, several banks have approached the railway department, inform sources.

To begin functioning within 15 days

“All preparations have been completed to start a medical kiosk at the Mangaluru Central Railway Station. In the coming 15 days, a new and free kiosk service will be started. In this way, the kiosk will function with the aim to provide emergency health service to the passengers arriving at the railway station,” said Kishan Kumar, MS, Deputy Station Manager, Mangaluru Central Railway Station.