Three years ago, Myagdi Overseas Nepalese Association (MONA) had gifted three ambulances to the district’s Red Cross Society. But these ambulances went out of operation soon after.

Besides this, many hospitals and health centres in Myagdi received ambulances as a donation in the last few years. This was expected to ensure easy accessibility of health services for the locals. But expensive fares to hire ambulance services meant the locals could not afford it. They prefer hiring taxis to ambulances because renting a taxi is cheaper than getting an ambulance.

“Ambulances charge more than the normal taxi fare for taking patients to hospitals and back home,” said Yamamati Pun, a resident of Annapurna Rural Municipality Ward No. 6. “But when a patient is discharged, and it’s time to go back, ambulances are nowhere to be found.”

However, Bishnu Kumari Garbhuja, the chair of Red Cross Bhurung Tatopani sub-division, said an ambulance has to charge high because the upkeep and maintenance costs of the service are higher.

“The maintenance cost of an ambulance in high so they charge more. But the locals feel cheated and start using taxis, jeeps and public vehicles instead,” Garbhuja said.

Talking about the fare difference, Surat KC, a member of the Red Cross division, said, “An ambulance charges Rs 2,500 to take patients from Darbang to Beni and Rs 3,000 from Bhurung Tatopani to Beni, whereas a taxi charges Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively for the same.”

The locals’ preference for taxis has led to a decrease in income generation for ambulances, and this has hit the maintenance and operation cost of the vehicles. It is getting increasingly difficult to find drivers for ambulances in the district.

Meanwhile, ambulance drivers have switched to driving tractors in the district, says Garbhuja.

“There is no income and stability of a job for the drivers, so most of them now operate tractors in rural areas,” Garbhuja said.

The Red Cross pays an ambulance driver Rs 12,000 a month and also gives them 10 percent commission per trip. But it’s still challenging to find a driver in the district.

“Ambulances could not win the people’s heart because it could not provide service at a cheaper rate,” said Motiraj Gautam, a member of the ambulance management committee at the Darbang Subdivision Office of Red Cross Society. “It also became difficult to pay the drivers since ambulances did not make much money.”

The district currently has three ambulances in operation—one is with Annapurna Rural Municipality, one with the Red Cross Society and the third one with the Myagdi District Hospital.

“The operating cost of an ambulance is too high. We have been incurring huge losses to provide ambulance services,” said Nabin Subedi, the administrative officer of Annapurna Rural Municipality.

“People opt for ambulance service only when the patient needs to have oxygen administered,” said Dashrath Karmacharya, the chairman of the Ambulance Operation Committee at the Bhurung Tatopani subdivision of District Red Cross Society.

Although having ambulance services at the disposal of the locals in rural areas is good for the community, it has been difficult to sustain the service due to the high operating cost, according to Red Cross Society.

“Although the ambulances were donated, their maintenance turned out to be costly and difficult,” said Karmacharya. “It’s good to have the service for the locals, but we must find ways to generate enough income to manage the maintenance costs.”