Mumbai: Cop starts free ambulance service in Cuffe Parade

Sonawane said he started doing this after watching two senior citizens trying to flag down passing vehicles on the road to take them to hospital after they failed to find an ambulance.

“Ten days ago, a man was sitting on the road when we happened to pass him. He was a resident of the chawl right in front of the police station. He told us that he has been dialing the control room and waiting for ambulance for a long time. We dialed a few numbers and helped him reach the hospital,” he added.

Sonawane was witness to a similar incident the next day. A woman from the slums in Cuffe Parade was sitting on the road waiting for an ambulance. “It was then that I decided to do something. I asked a friend to give me his Omni van… I created a partition between the driver’s seat and the back seat and started transporting people,” he said.

With the word spreading, many residents of Cuffe Parade have been contacting him, and that too without getting in touch with any ambulance service provider, Sonawane said.

“As I had circulated my number among the residents of Cuffe Parade, until now, only people from areas that fall under the jurisdiction of the police station have contacted me and I wish to help more people.”

Sonawane, who originally hails from Nandurbar, came to Mumbai in 2007. Recently transferred to Cuffe Parade police station, he stays in Colaba along with his wife and two daughters.

“I am not scared of catching the infection… I have sent my daughters to their native place where they are being taken care of by our relatives,” said Sonawane. So far, while 1,526 city police personnel have contracted the infection, 16 have died.

He disinfects the van after dropping every patient to the hospital. “I also sanitise the van before picking up a patient.”

“I get calls seeking ambulance when I am on police duty, but my superiors have never stopped me from going. I park the van near the police station and as soon as I get a call from any patient’s relative, I rush to the spot,” he said.