How Good Samaritans living along highways have aided police in saving people in accidents

Twelve people died in the accident. More lives would have been lost if not for Hanif Farzikar and other members of Mrityunjay Doot (angels who win over death).

MUMBAI: When 22-year-old Tushar Gavde emerged from his state of unconsciousness after two days in MGM Hospital, Kamothe (Navi Mumbai), he told himself that his life was a gift and looked around to thank the person who had saved him. “I have not seen God but after the accident I have started believing in angels,” said Gavde, who had suffered injuries to his arms and a severe head concussion in an accident on Mumbai Pune highway recently.

How Good Samaritans living along highways have aided police in saving people in accidents

He was part of Goregaon-based Baji Prabhu Dhol Tasha Mitra Mandal, who had travelled to Pune to participate in the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations along with 40 other members of the troupe. On their return from Pune, the bus they were travelling in lost its balance and fell into the valley at Ekeri Road on the old Mumbai Pune highway at 4am on April 15.

Twelve people died in the accident. More lives would have been lost had it not been for Hanif Farzikar, 46, and other members of Mrityunjay Doot (angels who win over death). “I had to break my Roza (the accident took place during Ramadan) that day but saving lives of 28 people was equivalent to 10,000 Rozas,” said Farzikar, who owns a transport business and lives in Khopoli.

Farzikar owns 50 vehicles; the drivers often tip off the members when they witness accidents along NH 48 and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Around 100 members of the group who live along the highway and the expressway work as crane operators or in garages and hotels along the highway. All of them jump into the fray when they hear about an accident closest to them.

Like Farzikar, 3483 members of Mrityunjay Doot, working as a part of the rescue team of the Maharashtra Highway Police, have saved 1,528 lives in the past two years and rushed 1,789 people to hospital in the ‘golden hour’ (the crucial one hour from the time of a mishap) in road crashes across national and state highways.

Project Mrityunjay Doot was launched in March 2021, comprising villagers and owners of small businesses along national highways in the state, to aid highway police in times of accidents as volunteers. They are at the forefront who make the first phone call to cops and nearest hospitals, and also help in rescue operations of accident survivors.

Ravindra Singhal, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Traffic and Highway Police, said, “Highway police had decided to create groups of volunteers living across the state highways to provide immediate help to accident victims. Over 1.5 lakh people die in road accidents in the country every year. In 2022 Maharashtra witnessed more than 15,224 deaths.”

Singhal said 70 per cent of fatal accidents are caused by speeding and “more than 62 per cent of the lives of accident victims can be saved if they receive medical treatment within the ‘golden hour’.”

Before Mrityunjay Dhoot was instituted, it took the traffic police between 90 minutes to an hour to rush victims to nearby hospitals. “Now, volunteers arrive at the spot in 10 minutes. These angels have helped in 836 mishaps and saved 1,528 lives by taking them to hospitals at the earliest,” said Singhal. Each member of the unit is equipped with first aid kits, a stretcher and detailed information about nearest hospitals and trauma care centers.

Hemant Gawli, 42, owner of a hotel on NH-52 (Dhule-Solapur Highway) said earlier he was a helpless observer of accidents and “watched several people die in front of my eyes”. “Now, after being trained we are able to give CPR and also know the technique to pull victims or survivors out of a wreckage,” said Gawli, who owns a hotel on NH-52.

On March 21, Gawli saved lives of six people who were in a crash. He had just arrived at the hotel at around 6 am when he saw a Mahindra Bolero crashing into the divider and turning turtle after its tyre burst. He immediately called his team of volunteers on the WhatsApp group and asked for help. “There were nine people in the vehicle. We called the ambulance immediately and gave CPR to all but could save just six of them,” he said. “We witness accidents every day. Our group has contact details of all the nearby hospitals and ambulances. Members of the team arrive on the spot in minutes.”

Gawli joined the Mrityunjay Doot when it was launched but has been working with an NGO to save accident victims on the highway since 2015.

Like Gawli, Amol Kadam, 31, a resident of Beed who digs and maintains borewells, was on his way to his workplace on NH 61 (Kalyan-Vishakhapatnam Highway) on March 28, at 10.15am when he witnessed three motorcycles in a head-on collision. “I had seen minor accidents before, but this was the first time I witnessed something so drastic,” said Kadam. “It was a horrific sight – I saw one of the motorcyclists fall hard on the road, which split his head wide open. I was determined to save the other riders.” He contacted fellow volunteers and also informed police about the accident. Three of them – two riders and one pillion rider -- were rushed to a nearby hospital within half an hour, and they survived the crash.