Ambulance carrying snakebite victim held up for 50 minutes by pilgrim protest on Delhi-Meerut road
An ambulance transporting a snakebite patient was stalled for almost an hour on the Delhi-Meerut corridor after a minor clash with a kanwar trolley sparked a protest.
Around 7 a.m. on Monday, an ambulance carrying a snakebite victim from Muradnagar to Sanjay Nagar Hospital collided lightly with a tractor-trolley parked on the Delhi-Meerut road. Pilgrims accompanying the kanwar claimed the impact damaged their trolley and halted traffic in protest, trapping the ambulance for nearly an hour. Senior police officers negotiated with the crowd, persuaded them to disperse, and opened a lane for the ambulance, which departed about ten minutes after the intervention.
No injuries were reported from the collision itself, though the ambulance driver was treated for minor wounds. The patient was subsequently transferred to GTB Hospital for further care. In response, traffic authorities accelerated a one-way diversion plan, reserving one carriageway for pilgrims and diverting regular vehicles to the opposite side until August 12, with additional expressway closures scheduled for the pilgrimage peak.
Why it matters
The incident highlights how pilgrim traffic can disrupt emergency services and prompted immediate changes to road management.
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