BeyondHeadlines Special Correspondent
Haridwar (Uttrakhand): Baba Ramdev has been rushed hospital after his health deteriorated rapidly as his fast-unto-death against black money entered the seventh day on June 10 at the Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar. The Haridwar district administration decided to shift Ramdev to the Himalayan Hospital in Dehradun due to better medical facilities there. He was also administered glucose by the doctors that ended his fast.
doctor checks the blood pressure of Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev at Ramdev's ashram in Haridwar, India, Friday, June 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)
Talking to BeyondHeadlines, Haridwar District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram said: “Baba Ramdev gave consent to take him to the hospital. Baba has been shifted to Himalayan Hospital in Dehradun in an ambulance. The ambulance has incentive care unit (ICU) facilities. The chief medical officer (CMO) is accompanying him. Glucose has been administered to him. We shifted Baba Ramdev to hospital only after his consent. We went by the advice of the doctors attending him.”
Doctors had earlier told Ramdev to break his fast as he had been losing weight and his blood pressure was also dropping.
Haridwar district officials, including Sundaram, negotiated with Ramdev’s associates at the Patanjali Yogpeeth where Ramdev has been fasting to admit him to a hospital.
Doctors fear that Ramdev’s health could deteriorate further if his blood pressure and pulse rate continue to slide. Reports say that the yoga guru’s blood pressure has fallen to 104/70, and his pulse rate is 58 per minute.
“As Baba Ramdev’s health is deteriorating, he should stop his hunger strike immediately. We have requested him to stop his strike,” said Dr Yogesh Chandra Sharma, the Chief Medical Officer of Haridwar, on Friday.
Dr Sharma said, “We want to admit him to the ICU so that we can do a heart checkup and other checkups on him.” If Ramdev refuses to take glucose on Friday, the doctors will forcibly give it to him, Dr Sharma added.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could also step in and appeal to Ramdev to end the fast. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to speak to Singh after a meeting with Swami Agnivesh.
Meanwhile, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be going to Haridwar to meet the yoga guru. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is going to try and persuade Ramdev to end his fast.
Baba Ramdev has been continuing his fast against corruption and black money at Patanjali Peeth in Haridwar after he was externed from Delhi last week, following crackdown by the Delhi Police at his fast venue Ramlila Grounds.
