BENGALURU: The dial 112 helpline which was inaugurated with much fanfare by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, had its lines choked on Thursday. The newly set up command centre in Bengaluru has 60 answering points with two Primary Rate Interface (PRI).
“The response was high until 6pm on Friday and we received an average of 22,000 calls per hour from Jio network alone. We received a good response but it was unprecedented,” said ADGP (Communication, Logistics and Modernisation), R P Sharma.
The department will conduct a meeting at 12pm on Saturday with the technical and IT teams to discuss the issue. “We will take a call on how new lines should come up. During the survey, it was found that 60 lines were enough. This is excluding the calls coming in only to make enquiries,” Sharma explained.A press note stated: “As per the traffic observations of BSNL, 50,164 calls per hour are landing on the Public Safety Answering Point.”
The Emergency Response Support System, which is already in place in 17 states in the country, will be implemented in Karnataka in the next few days. The 112 emergency number includes services like 100 for police, 101 for fire brigade, 108 for ambulance and 1091 for women’s helpline.