Green corridor meets need for speed

KOLKATA: Othello Love Mike. Eastern India’s first heart transplant surgery could not have been successful had these three — all denoting radio frequencies used by cops to manage traffic — not been coordinated during rush-hour traffic. At least six traffic guards, cutting across two commissionerates, came together under one unique frequency to ensure that the heart from Bengaluru reached Fortis Hospital at the earliest once it touched down in Kolkata.



The entire transportation, that kicked off exactly at11.09am at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and ended at11.29am at the hospital after a 18.7km journey through VIP Road and the EM Bypass, saw almost 50 officers from the Kaikhali, Baguiati, Lake Town, Ultadanga and Beliaghata traffic guards continuously monitoring these frequencies to maintain perfect co-ordination.

“The fact that it was peak office time made the job more challenging. Twenty minutes on the first day of the week is a creditable performance, given it was one of the longest green corridors to have been set up within the city,” said DC (traffic) Sumit Kumar. The usual travel time on this stretch is between 35 and 45 minutes. Sources said the average speed maintained was between 95kmph to 120kmph.

“Since Bidhannagar police uses the Othello frequency, we had asked our control room to switch over to their frequency to track the convoy movement. Once it reached Ultadanga, Kolkata cops switched to the Love frequency, the one used by Ultadanga traffic guard. Around Chingrighata, the Mike radio frequency, used by the Beliaghata guard, was used to co-ordinate with one another,” said an ACP, who was part of the operation.

The preparations had begun from Sunday night itself. “We were initially informed that the heart would reach the city early morning. This call came around 10.30pm on Sunday, and we immediately agreed. But then the time of arrival got pushed back from 7am. Finally, we were told the plane would reach Kolkata around 11am. The office time period was not an ideal one, but you do not create green corridors and expect ideal situations all the time,” a source said.

“As soon as we got the final go-ahead on Monday morning, we set up pilot cars and asked our men to be present at each crossing. They were directed to keep all vehicles on the left corridor so that the extreme left lane was undisturbed. Obviously, all lights were turned green,” said Amit Javalgi, DC (HQ, Bidhannagar).

An officer said a couple of drivers expressed uneasiness when the convoy crossed the 100kmph mark. “They were then told to slow down a bit,” the cop said.

Police maintained that a drill that was conducted in April with the Indian Air Force, where 45 “casualties” were rushed to Command Hospital in Alipore within 40 minutes, helped them face Monday’s real-life test. “The only place where there was a hiccup was near Kaikhali, where the ambulance had to slow down due to traffic on the right lane of VIP Road. Otherwise, it was a high-speed drive,” explained an officer.