Patna: When floodwaters cut off roads and isolate habitations, reaching a hospital can become a challenge. In flood-prone Khagaria, the district administration has responded by taking healthcare onto the water.A floating clinic, equipped to provide essential medical services, is reaching communities whose road connectivity has been disrupted by floods. The initiative aims to ensure people do not have to wait for floodwaters to recede or roads to reopen for basic medical care.Khagaria’s geography, with villages and habitations along rivers and in low-lying areas, makes it particularly vulnerable to flooding. Submerged roads often disrupt the movement of patients, ambulances and medical teams.The floating clinic provides both outpatient department (OPD) and inpatient department (IPD) services, with facilities for consultation, patient beds, seating and essential medicines. It also caters to maternal healthcare needs, including care for pregnant women and delivery-related requirements.The administration has linked the facility with a Boat Ambulance, allowing patients from remote and flood-affected areas to reach the clinic for timely treatment. More than 1,300 patients have so far been treated through the initiative. The water-based service is particularly useful during periods when normal transport is disrupted and residents may otherwise struggle to reach health centres. Medical teams can provide consultations and medicines at the floating facility while patients needing further care can be shifted onwards. The arrangement also allows the administration to maintain healthcare access in areas where floodwaters have cut off regular routes for days during the ongoing floods.Patients requiring specialised or advanced treatment are referred to higher medical centres through appropriate arrangements. Particular attention is being given to elderly people, pregnant and lactating women and children. Arrangements are also in place for emergencies commonly associated with floods, including drowning, snake bites and water- and vector-borne diseases.Khagaria district magistrate Vikram Virkar said the administration was focused on ensuring no flood-affected community was left without essential healthcare.“Our priority is to ensure that essential healthcare reaches every affected community. Special attention is being given to elderly persons, pregnant and lactating mothers and children, while arrangements are also in place to respond to drowning, snake-bite and water- and vector-borne diseases,” Virkar said.He added, “Patients are also being brought through Boat Ambulance for timely treatment. More than 1,300 patients have already been treated. Our endeavour is simple — to save every life.”Virkar said, “When roads are submerged, healthcare must still find a way to reach the people.”
