BENGALURU: Bengaluru’s first police helpline, Namma 100, will soon change to Dial 112, the pan-India number of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for citizens in emergencies. The state will launch the new integrated emergency number 112 for police, medical and fire emergencies, and also the women’s helpline.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is due to inaugurate the project at 4 pm on October 30 in Bengaluru. Namma 100, which was first launched in 2017, will be replaced for the entire state. The initiative was pending for the past two years, and will first be launched in the districts. If successful, it will shift to cities such as Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru.
"Namma 100 is focused more on the city. When we get calls from districts, we provide them with the number of the person concerned. But now, the main command centre will be in Bengaluru, and calls
from the districts will be transferred directly to the districts," said Ilakkiya Karunagaran, Deputy Commissioner of Police (VVIP security), in-charge of Bengaluru Command Centre.
The time duration to transfer a call is eight minutes. However, with the new system in place, it should take less than five minutes. Namma 100 will be functional until 112 is fully in place. All districts will have command centres for calls to be transferred from Bengaluru.
“In due course, there will be only a single helpline. It will be centrally operated from Bengaluru and action will be initiated without loss of time. Right now, the women’s helpline is already integrated with 100. Three more numbers -- 100, 108 and 118 -- will be merged. Though there are 21 helplines, we cannot integrate them all,” says ADGP (Communication, Logistics and Modernisation) RP Sharma.
Sharma added that details of the project will be issued after its launch. The helpline was launched in Delhi in September, and will be launched in Uttar Pradesh on October 26. Other states are soon to follow.