On 26th August, 2020 Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the State’s First fully equipped Marine Ambulance ‘Pratheeksha’. It was acquired by the Fisheries Department at Kochi for rescue operations at sea. ‘Pratheeksha’ – built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is the first of the three marine ambulances ordered by the state at a total cost of Rs.18.24 Crores. The Other 2 ships are ‘Prathyasha’ and ‘Karunya’.
Key Points:
i.The Marine Ambulance is equipped to provide medical care for 10 persons at a time.
ii.The crew would consist of Paramedical staff who will be assisted by four sea rescue squads.
iii.The Ambulance will also have modern life-saving equipment, medicine stocks and portable mortuary.
iv.The Central institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Kochi provided the technical advice for building the marine ambulances.
v.Pratheeksha will be stationed at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram, Prathyasa and Karunya will be stationed at Vypeen in Ernakulam and Beypore in Kozhikode.
Funding:
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) came forward to bear the cost of one ambulance, Cochin Shipyard agreed to provide 3 crores from its CSR fund, 7.36 crore was sanctioned from Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund and the fisheries department sanctioned 2 crores from the plan fund.
About Marine Ambulance:
It is 23 metres long with a draught of three metres. It is powered by two 700 HP Scania engines and is capable of touching 14 knots.
Recent Related News:
i.Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on a Rs.1500 crore Kerala Fiber Optic Network(K-FON) project to provide free internet access for the poor by December 2020 and becomes the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen.
ii.The State Cabinet of Kerala appointed Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Vishwas Mehta as Chief Secretary (CS) of Kerala and will continue to hold the office till February 28, 2021. He will succeed Tom Jose.
About Kerala:
Governor – Arif Mohammad Khan
National Parks – Eravikulam National Park, Silent Valley National Park, Pampadum Shola National Park, Mathikettan Shola National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park.
