GUWAHATI, Feb 6 � In a city witness to apathetic attitude of its residents, this comes as a welcome break. A few residents of Guwahati, not so well acquainted with one another, came together to reinforce the belief that hope and fellow feeling survives in a section of society.
Today early in the morning, these few citizens called one another over phone to come to the aid of an abandoned woman, who was spending time on the roads of Pan Bazar. Within hours of the first call being made, the woman, who appeared severely undernourished was taken by an ambulance from 108 emergency service to Gauhati Medical College Hospital.
The chain of events was triggered by the family of Dipak Kumar Das, a resident of Jaswanta Road, who had observed the frail woman spending time close to the Water Treatment facility of Pan Bazar. The family had earlier tried to contact a well-known NGO to seek advice, but the efforts didn't yield any results.
Today morning, they briefed this reporter who in turn informed Arman Ali, who heads an NGO for the physically and mentally challenged. Ali, made calls to several people including a senior official with the 108 emergency service. The official was able to locate an ambulance that was stationed in Jalukbari, which was rushed to Pan Bazar.
Meanwhile, members of the Das family with the aid of Hameeda, a local resident, offered her food and clothes. Dipak Kumar Das, who spoke to her in Bangla found that her name was Apuya and had recently visited Kolkata from where she took a train.
Locals who have noticed the homeless middle-aged woman mention that she refrains from asking for food, and keeps repeating that she would never beg for something. Today, for the first time in three days, she accepted some food before being taken to the GMCH.
At the time of filing this report, the rescued woman was being treated, but she appears to have some psychiatric problems which will need more care, said Dr Ramen Talukdar of the GMCH.
