  We present the results of a search for the ground state hyperfine transition
of the OH radical near 53 MHz using the National MST Radar Facility at Gadanki,
India. The observed position was G48.4$-$1.4 near the Galactic plane. The OH
line is not detected. We place a 3$\sigma$ upper limit for the line flux
density at 39 Jy from our observations. We also did not detect recombination
lines (RLs) of carbon, which were within the frequency range of our
observations. The 3$\sigma$ upper limit of 20 Jy obtained for the flux density
of carbon RL, along with observations at 34.5 and 327 MHz are used to constrain
the physical properties of the line forming region. Our upper limit is
consistent with the line emission expected from a partially ionized region with
electron temperature, density and path lengths in the range 20 -- 300 K, 0.03
-- 0.3 cm$^{-3}$ and 0.1 -- 170 pc respectively.
