Thane traffic police create green corridor to rush donor heart to Mumbai

Thane: The Thane Traffic Police carved out a seamless green corridor on Saturday to rush a donor heart to Mumbai from Thane, navigating a critical city stretch often perennially clogged due to dense traffic movement, in nearly half the stipulated time. A narrow preparatory margin gave a patient a fighting chance at life.Coincidentally, the entire exercise was carried out on Valentine's Day, a day associated with hearts, as the Thane Traffic Police team swung into action and collectively ensured an obstruction-free path was created between Thane and Mumbai hospitals for the speedy transplant of the heart, at very short notice.
Pankaj Shirsat, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Thane Traffic, said, "The request call came to us barely 30 minutes in advance. A brain-dead donor at Jupiter Hospital was cleared for organ retrieval, and the heart needed to reach Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital, where a recipient awaited transplant surgery."What followed was a tightly coordinated, clock-bound operation involving medical teams and traffic police working in rare synchrony."The organ left Jupiter Hospital at 5:55pm, and a total distance of 35km was to be covered, of which 6km was within Thane's congested limits — from the hospital on the Eastern Express Highway near Runwal Nagar to Anandnagar Toll Naka. We estimated 14 minutes to cross this leg, but our escorting team cleared it in just 8 minutes, ensuring the heart crossed into Mumbai without any delay," said Shirsat, who mobilised 25 personnel across key junctions as part of the initiative.Traffic police inspector Shrikant Sonde (Kapurbaudi), along with those from Wagle Estate, Naupada, and those in the control room, coordinated diversions and held intersections with clinical precision, keeping the corridor sterile as the ambulance sped through.Inside the hospital, Dr Santosh Sorte and his team ensured the retrieval and preservation protocols were executed flawlessly, a crucial factor in time-sensitive cardiac transplants where every minute impacts viability.Reflecting on the mission, DCP Shirsat said the department received intimation from hospital authorities just 30 minutes before departure. "We moved immediately. If our intervention helps save a life, we consider it our privilege," he said.Green corridors are not new to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, but each successful execution underscores the fragile arithmetic of organ transplantation — where minutes, not miles, determine outcomes, said police.