Road accidents in Bengaluru haven't come down in spite of the ongoing Covid curfew.
In the 10 days since the curfew ("close-down") was imposed, the city reported at least 44 road accidents, nine of them fatal, in 25 police station limits, according to traffic cops.
Hulimavu reported most accidents (five, all of them non-fatal) followed by Yelahanka (two, both fatal).
B R Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), offered an explanation as to why accidents are happening despite the curfew. "There is hardly any traffic or physical enforcement on the roads. Motorists tend to speed, leading to accidents," he told DH.
The accidents are creating unexpected problems. With most of the people staying indoors, attending to accidents hospitals or taking them to hospitals for treatment isn't easy. There aren't many vehicles either, says a source in the traffic police.
"In many cases, our Hoysala vehicles (police patrol cars) had to be deployed to take accident victims to hospitals," said a traffic sub-inspector from the north police division.
But the problem doesn't end there.
Since many hospitals have been treating only Covid patients, accident victims have to be shuttled from one facility to another, leading to the loss of the golden hour of medical treatment, the sub-inspector added.
Hospitalisation blues
Earlier this week, a 55-year-old motorist fell off after losing balance near the Hebbal flyover in northern Bengaluru. Traffic police took him to Specialist Hospital in Kalyan Nagar only to be told that no beds were available there.
The patient was then rushed to Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College Hospital in Shampura but he couldn't get the required medical care. He was shuffled back to Special Hospital and was declared brought dead.
"The pandemic is a big challenge for our officers. They are struggling to get emergency care for road accident victims during the golden hour,” said the traffic police chief.