MUMBAI/GUWAHATI: His 28-year old sister passed away two days after he managed to bring her home in Harda, Madhya Pradesh (MP), in an ambulance which drove 700 kms from the Mumbai hospital where she had undergone treatment for advanced stage stomach cancer. Taking the road, atleast two families took their cancer patients from Mumbai to Assam , while another that had their heart patient moved from a Chennai hospital to Assam. It took three days of almost non-stop travel for the three families to cover the 2,700-odd km distance in a road ambulance. One of these families travelled on March 27, soon after the lockdown, only to encounter hurdles in the form of closed petrol pumps and eateries enroute.Air ambulance flights cost lakhs of rupees, leaving ground ambulances as the sole mode of affordable transport for many invalid Indians after the lockdown put a ban on train ambulances. To add to that economic hurdle, on April 15, the ministry of civil aviation tightened the rules around medical flights, leaving that option open only for patients with emergencies that can be medically responded to only in another city. That has made long distance road travel in an ambulance, which typically is air conditioned, equipped with a stretcher and ICU equipments, the only mode of transport for many, especially patients undergoing chemotherapy.Mumbai draws them by the hundreds from across the country. With no train ambulance services, had it not been for the road ambulances, they would have missed a cycle and also not managed to go back home after the chemotherapy in order to recuperate and stay infection-free. Then there are patients with heart ailments who need to return home, post surgery.“On March 4, we took my father to Chennai in a train ambulance to treat heart blockages. We had our return flights tickets to Guwahati for March 18, but a day before my father’s health condition suddenly deteriorated and he was in Apollo hospital ICU till March 30, when he was discharged,” says Baharaul Islam , a school teacher in Assam’s Bongaigaon district. They drove him home, 2700 km away in a road ambulance, which cost Rs 1.6 lakh. `The Guwahati to Chennai train ambulance had cost them Rs 1.2 lakh. There were two drivers and between them they drove for 23 hours a day. "We started from the hospital at 10 am on March 31 and reached home at 10 pm on April 2,” Islam said adding that they were stopped by the police, first on entering West Bengal for about four hours and then again at the Assam-West Bengal border at Srirampur for about two hours. “They checked our papers and let us go. It was at Kajalgaon near our home when one of the drivers received a call to stop at the nearest civil hospital, where doctors did a checkup and sent us all to home quarantine for 14 days,” said Islam adding that they are relieved to be home.The relief of reaching home was short lived for Nitin Vikas (name changed) as his 28-year old sister succumbed to stomach cancer on March 28, two days after they reached home. ``Atleast she spent the last two days with her children. The ambulance left on March 25 from JJ hospital, it drove through the night, we covered 700 kms in less than a day and didn’t encounter any problems enroute,’’ he said.For the two families who road ambulanced it from Mumbai to Assam with their cancer patients cost was a big factor, with road travel priced at Rs 2 lakh as against the Rs 12 lakh for an air ambulance. ``Money was a problem, so we helped them with road ambulance. The firs trip, on March 27 trip, with a 55-year old male patient undergoing cancer treatment in Tata Memorial was a difficult one, with hardly any petrol pumps open. They also had problem getting food, tea as every outlet along the highways were closed. At one place, the driver’s assistant had to walk for 8-10 km for petrol. It took 55-60 hours to complete the trip, with two short breaks, one in Indore and another in Kanpur. But they were relived to be finally home,’’ said Rahul Muchhal of Accretion Aviation, which arranged the trip. ``A number of road ambulance providers have suspended services due to the lockdown, so getting an ambulance to do a long distance trip comes with hurdles,’’ he added.These days petrol pumps are open but there are other hurdles. Mohit Jain (name changed), a 26-year old software engineer was hospitalised in the first week of April with swollen legs and severe mouth ulcers. He decided to head back home in Dholpur, Rajasthan after discharge. ``The ambulance left hospital around 9 pm on April 8 and on April 10 morning we were passing through Morena in MP, when the police stopped our vehicle,’’ said Jain. They refused to let the ambulance with Maharashtra registration number pass through Chambal. ``Dholpur was about 27 kms away at this point. I called up my family and a cousin started off in a two wheeler. Meanwhile I started walking and covered ten kilometres before I could get the lift,’’ said Jain, adding that though his leg condition worsened the next few days he was happy to be home.