Sri Vijaya Puram, March 3: Shri. TSG Bhasker, Chairman of the Campaign Committee–ANTCC, has expressed deep concern over the manner in which a critically ill passenger was handled following the recent helicopter at Mayabunder on 24th February 2026.
While the incident reportedly resulted in no immediate casualties, one passenger, Smt. Nambi Amma, is stated to have ingested water into her lungs during the mishap. She was shifted from Mayabunder to Port Blair by road ambulance on 25th February. The journey, which reportedly took nearly seven hours along the poorly maintained NH-4 road, is said to have significantly worsened her condition. Upon arrival in Port Blair, she was admitted to the ICU and placed on ventilator support. Unfortunately, she passed away on the evening of 27th February.
Shri Bhasker has questioned the adequacy of emergency medical facilities available at Mayabunder, particularly considering its status as a District Headquarters. He has raised concerns as to whether the attending medical personnel at Mayabunder Hospital possessed the required qualifications and expertise to handle such a critical case. He has also questioned the decision to transport the patient by road for such a long duration instead of arranging immediate air evacuation.
According to him, if a helicopter operated by Pawan Hans was unavailable, the Administration should have promptly sought assistance from agencies such as the Indian Coast Guard, Navy, or Air Force to ensure timely airlifting of the patient. Serious doubts have also been raised regarding whether a qualified doctor had accompanied the patient during transit in ambulance and whether the ambulance was adequately equipped with oxygen support, monitoring systems, and other life-saving equipment necessary for a patient in critical condition.
Shri Bhasker has alleged that the apparent lack of preparedness and timely decision-making has contributed to the deterioration of the patient’s condition. He emphasized that the incident exposes serious shortcomings in the Islands emergency response and disaster management systems.
In view of the gravity of the matter, Shri Bhasker has demanded a thorough, impartial, and time-bound enquiry into the entire sequence of events. He has further called for accountability to be fixed for any lapses and for immediate corrective measures to strengthen emergency medical infrastructure and evacuation systems across the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to prevent such tragic incidents in the future.