Mr. Satish Mathur, Director General of Police, Maharashtra State flagging off the walk in the presence of Mayor of Navi Mumbai, Mr. Sudhakar Sonawane & Navi Mumbai Commissioner of Police, Hemant Nagrale
Around 7,000 people from across the various age groups and profession pledged to donate eyes during the ‘Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya- the Walk against Blindness’ (TMJ) that was held on 8th January 2017 on Palm Beach Road in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai. Organised by Advanced Eye Hospital and Institute (AEHI) and One Vision Health and Research Foundation, TMJ has been seeing a record breaking number of participants come on the streets every year to make it the largest ever walk to raise awareness for eye pledging and eye donation. Last year in January 2016, around 7,500 people had joined in the walk. This year around 12,000 people from various walks of life participated whole heartedly.
“As per the statistics from National Program for Control of Blindness around 1.2 lakh Indians are blind from diseases of the cornea, the outer clear layer of our eye. And about 25 – 30 thousand new cases are added each year to this humongous backlog. Newer techniques of cornea transplantation can help 1.2 lakh Indians to get back their sight, if only the 1.2 billion of us cared enough to get over our inhibitions and ignorance towards eye donation,” says Dr. Vandana Jain, Cornea and Cataract Surgeon and Director of AEHI.
‘TMJ- the Walk against Blindness’ aimed to motivate people to get over their inhibitions and overcome the shortage of corneas. And it pushed across this sombre message in a very light hearted, fun filled way. The walk had dance and song, refreshments, fervent sloganeering, celebrity performances and an energetic anchoring by RJ Archana from Radio city of ‘Salil and Archana’ fame.
This year, the Walk was preceded by a Carnival in the top eight colleges of Navi Mumbai, which saw college students participating in singing, dancing and video making contests as pre-event activities. The finalists of these contests showcased their talent during the Walk.
Mr. Satish Mathur, Director General of Police, Maharashtra State flagged off the walk in the presence of Mayor of Navi Mumbai, Mr. Sudhakar Sonawane, Navi Mumbai Commissioner of Police, Hemant Nagrale and Dr. Nitin Kadam Trustee MGM Trust.
“There is a need to do something for our countrymen and pledge to donate eyes will be the biggest gift in our fight against blindness,” stressed Mayor Sudhakar Sonawane.
“All citizens must pledge to donate their eyes and give light to the people lost in the darkness,” said Mr. Nagrale.
“We have now more and more people in Navi Mumbai registering for eye donation on our website as well within the eye hospital. With the events such as the walk against blindness, we plan to raise funds for poor patients for surgeries also. Last year we did 500 free surgeries and distributed free spectacles to more than 5000 old people. These were all poor patients and could not afford treatment for even Rs. 500. We have also adopted some villages in nearby area with the help of One Vision Health and Research Foundation for free eye care. I urge all Navi Mumbaikars to work towards making Navi Mumbai a model city with highest rates of eye donation and completely blindness free,” adds Dr. Vandana Jain.
Citizens’ response
There was enthusiastic participation by residents who had come early in the morning to be a part of this novel initiative. Students from various schools and colleges walked with placards, banners in their hands shouting slogans and urging citizens for eye donations.
“It is indeed a very noble initiative. There is a need to spread awareness on eye as well as other organ donation. We plan to organise such programmes in other parts of the city too,” said Rajendra Mane, DCP (Zone II).
“There is a need to spread awareness on organ donations. Such initiatives will definitely help many to fight blindness,” said Sunita Vohra, a resident of Nerul.
“Me and my friends will be pledging for eye donation and hope that other citizens too participate whole heartedly in this initiative,” remarked Vinay Kumar, a student of R.G. College, Vashi.
