Integrate helplines with 112 by August end: Chief Secy

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Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra Thursday asked the officials to ensure integration of existing emergency numbers with ‘Dial 112’, a unified emergency response support system (ERSS), by August end.

This was revealed at a high-level review meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary on a digital mode. Existing emergency numbers like 100 (Police) and 101 (Fire) have already been integrated with the 112 toll-free number, it was learnt.

Mahapatra asked the Home department to sensitise people about the functioning of the unified number so that a maximum of the citizens can benefit from the initiative.

Apart from 100 and 101, existing emergency numbers in the state include 102 (Janani Express), 104 (Covid), 108 (Ambulance), 181 (Women helpline) and 1098 (Child helpline). Besides, dedicated helpline services are also available for senior citizens and the differently-abled.

The Chief Secretary directed the officials to work towards making ERSS more responsive and prompt. He emphasised upon reducing the response time, the duration between receipt of a call and the vehicle reaching the service delivery point, it was learnt.

The officials were also asked to deploy more manpower and vehicles for immediate response. The parallel helplines would gradually be closed with full functioning and stabilisation of the ERSS, it was learnt.

According to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjeev Chopra, the State Emergency Response Centre (SERC) has been functioning round-the-clock with 60 call takers, 12 computer-aided systems, 151 vehicles and 400 Fire Service vehicles.

Out of the 20,811 calls received by SERC between March 19 and May 31 this year, 73 per cent were regarding police and the rest 27 per cent pertain to fire events. The response centre received 5,415 calls regarding ambulance services in the period, Chopra said.

Moreover, out of the 8,807 calls received by SERC in June, 93 per cent sought police intervention, while the remaining 7 per cent related to fire incidents. During the month, 1,821 calls for emergency ambulance service were received and attended to, Chopra pointed out.

Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had launched the ‘Dial 112’ ERSS wherein people can call the toll-free number for all emergency services, including police, fire and health, March 19 this year. Patnaik had also inaugurated the SERC and flagged off the emergency response vehicles fitted with mobile data terminals on the day.

The state government has allocated Rs 157.12 crore and sanctioned 2,500 posts for the project. The single-number service aims to benefit people, especially women and the elderly.

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