#MyStory

Time: 12:30 am
Place: Dhanbad Jharkhand
While I was returning from the railway station, half an hour past midnight of 29th may, I noticed a figure beside a motor bike, lying on the side of a dimly lit, deserted main road of Dhanbad; that could have been easily dismissed as a collapsed local drunk. But upon closer inspection, I found that the person was quivering and lay in a pool of blood. I asked my cab driver to pull over beside him and to park the vehicle guarding his body from the speeding trucks that might accidentally drive over the injured man.
I could not find the contact of any medical facility so I called someone who I thought could help. This happened to be the Deputy Commissioner of Dhanbad. I was surprised when my distress call was answered on the first attempt in the middle of the night and I was assured that a hospital will be informed immediately and help will be there any minute. After waiting for about ten minutes I decided not to take a risk with the person’s life by continuing to wait for the ambulance to arrive and so I took him to the Dhanbad central hospital by auto.
Upon reaching there the injured man was given the necessary treatment. I was also informed that the Ambulance was out of order and waiting would have cost me the life of the man. Soon a patrolling vehicle arrived and the authorities contacted the family with the help of the documents from his wallet.As patrolling van left to bring the family, I got another call at around three in the morning informing me that there was a report of another accident at the same spot. This time it was two girls on a two wheeled vehicle, who were lucky, as they fell on a pile of sand and escaped any major injury. The occurrence of a second accident at the same spot on the same night was highly unlikely and called for investigation.
It was discovered that the accidents were taking place because of some construction material that was irresponsibly piled alongside the road. The authorities promised me that the pile will be cleared in the morning.
While returning to my hostel at ISM Dhanbad, I wondered why a construction chips piled on a main road that connected to the post office, the DC Office and other important Administration Buildings, lay unchecked. I also wondered how the Central Hospital could afford to not arrange a vehicle to substitute the broken down ambulance. And how people can be so careless with their lives and drive without helmets.

Submittted by ~Shashank Mishra