Ranchi: Air ambulance fare in Jharkhand is set to come down by up to 60%. The state government has decided to reduce the air ambulance tariff in view of low demand of the facility by the people.
A senior officer of the civil aviation department said that very few people could use the emergency air ambulance facility, launched by the state government since April 28 last year, owing to high cost of travel. Currently, emergency air ambulance service from Ranchi to Chennai or Tirupati costs around ₹8 lakh. The fare will come down to ₹3.85 lakh once it is revised.
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The officer said that the state planning empowered committee and chief minister Champai Soren have decided to curtail the travel cost substantially, since many people were unable to use the facility due to high cost.
Currently, eight major cities with rich medical infrastructure and resources are connected with Ranchi via air ambulance services. Air ambulance facility is available for cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Lucknow and Tirupati.
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The operator charges ₹5 lakh for New Delhi, ₹7 lakh for Mumbai, ₹8 lakh each for Chennai and Tirupati, ₹3 lakh for Kolkata, ₹7 lakh for Hyderabad, ₹3.30 lakh for Varanasi and ₹5 lakh for Lucknow. However, tariff for these cities will come down drastically once the new arrangement is notified.
A senior officer of the civil aviation department said that cost of air ambulance to Delhi will come down to ₹3.30 lakh, Mumbai ₹4.40 lakh, Chennai and Tirupati ₹3.85 lakh, Kolkata ₹1.10 lakh, Varanasi ₹1.37 lakh and Lucknow ₹2.20 lakh. Besides, people will now have to pay ₹55,000 per hour for taking the patients to other destinations against the existing fare of ₹1.10 lakh.
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Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had launched the ‘Air Ambulance Service’ at Birsa Munda Airport to provide emergency health facilities to the common citizens of the state. A state-level cell has been constituted for ‘Air Ambulance Service’ by the civil aviation department. The public of the state can get the service of air ambulance by contacting by telephone or through e-mail.
The applicant will be informed over the phone itself about the possible expenditure as per the destination. After the consent of the applicant, a provision has been made to prepare the aircraft within 2 hours by the air ambulance operator, so that the needy can be taken to the destination as soon as possible.
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Under this service, a provision has also been made to reschedule the flight for the convenience of the common citizens. Apart from Ranchi, this service will also be available in Deoghar, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Giridih and Dumka.
It is not that only those who can pay will be able to use this service, there is a system to take those who cannot pay according to need through air ambulance and provide health services.
