Citizens lose faith in 108 ambulance

The "108" ambulance service, which was started to provide life-saving medical help within the "golden hour", is now under heavy criticism in Pune.

- Indu Bhagat

The "108" ambulance service, which was started to provide life-saving medical help within the "golden hour", is now under heavy criticism in Pune. For many families, instead of relief, the services are giving them a hard time.

Across the city and district, people complain that ambulances arrive late by an hour or more. In some cases, families say they don't arrive at all. "We dialled 108 when my father collapsed. After waiting nearly an hour, we had to take him to the hospital in an auto-rickshaw," a resident of Hadapsar told The Free Press Journal (FPJ) on the condition of anonymity.