Mumbai creates a green corridor twice in 5 days!

Just a few days ago a green corridor was created on the roads of Mumbai to quickly transfer a harvested heart from Pune to Mumbai and now for the second time this took place. In 14 minutes flat, a stretch of 19 km was covered from Vashi, Navi Mumbai to Mulund, Mumbai.

The heart was harvested from a 63-year old man at MGM Hospital in Vashi, Navi Mumbai and was taken to Fortis Hospital in Mulund in north-east Mumbai, to be transplanted to a 29-year-old recipient. Chipping in for the noble cause, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai traffic police authorities collaborated to create a 'green corridor' and enable the donated organ to reach its destination in the shortest possible time. Here s how heart transplants are done.

It was no doubt a tall order, considering the morning peak hour and congestion on the Vashi-Mumbai routes, but the effort paid off in the end. A heart transplant must take place within four hours of the harvest, and sooner the better, medics said. Mumbai Police swung into action along with Navi Mumbai counterparts after the request for making suitable arrangements at around 3.45 a.m. on Friday. They readied a route plan within 20 minutes, including diversions and clearing congested roads, stalling traffic signals and synchronizing all other aspects, an official said. It is extremely heartening to see the city's second heart transplant in less than a week - while the organ donation month awareness is underway, said Fortis Healthcare Regional Director Sukhmeet Sandhu.

This was the second heart transplant in the city after a gap of 47 long years. The first one after this many years was carried out last Monday in a similar well-coordinated operation when the harvested heart was taken from Jehangir Hospital, Pune, by road to the airport in the city, then to Mumbai airport and then again a road journey to Mulund's Fortis Hospital - all in less than 90 minutes. The country's first heart transplant operation was carried out at Mumbai's KEM Hospital by Dr. P.K. Sen in 1968.

It is indeed heartening to see this change. We hope no more lives are lost due to traffic.

With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty