Now, universal helpline 112 may be completed by May

PANAJI: The state government’s delay in releasing central government funds of Rs 5 crore for the setting up of the new emergency response support system (ERSS) had delayed the implementation of the project.
Under ERSS, the state government will provide all emergency services under one universal number — 112 — instead of separate numbers for police (100), fire (101) and ambulance (108).

A senior police officer said that the state treasury transferred the money last week and that the project, which was initially to be launched on December 19, 2018, is expected to be completed by May. “Sixty per cent of the work has been completed,” the officer said.
A call to the universal number will galvanise all units as per their need to attend to the emergency. All existing helplines — women, children and senior citizens — will also be merged into the new 112 services.
Personnel in the police control room will decided on the course of action and monitor it till the end of the operation. Fire services and EMRI personnel will also be stationed to monitor ERSS.
The existing control rooms set up at EMRI and fire services will continue to function, but it would be connected to ERSS, while the existing numbers would be dysfunctional. Under this project, an advanced system would put in place and every vehicle’s dashboard will be fitted with a mobile data terminal (MDT) to enable police to intermediately locate it as soon as an emergency call is received. This will enable police to divert their nearest vehicle to the spot.
Police said that once the police vehicle reaches the spot it will be able to provide live feed to the control room via the MDT. This will enable police to access the ground situation and decide whether any reinforcement needs to be sent to the spot.
The system will also allow the control room to take a call on whether other emergency services need to be sent to the site.
In case of an accident call, both police and EMRI will attend to the call. If the accident also involves a fire, then police, fire and EMRI personnel will act together.