According to a statement released by officials on Friday, Maharashtra has activated a single helpline number '112' after conducting a chain of trials and experiments. The helpline number has been activated to assist people who are in pain and misery by connecting them to police teams.
Already started in five cities of Maharashtra, the helpline service is expected to be a boon to the people in times of distress and crisis.
Citizens living in Mumbai, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur who are facing difficulty or trouble can call the state's helpline number - 112 from their mobile phones, to seek help and support from police, the official stated.
According to the officials, emergency numbers like police (100), ambulance (108), fire (101) and help to women in difficulties (1090) will also be included in the helpline number '112' in the next phase which will be available throughout the state.
As of now, the single emergency number is made available to five cities in Maharashtra and will be activated in other parts of the state as well, the official added.
Currently, the team is working on activating the helpline service for connecting different cities in the state as well.
The official explained that when the citizens make a call on this helpline number, the call will be directed to the Emergency Response Centre and from there the citizens will be connected to the police officials to help them in case of distress.
Shortly, there are plans of integrating the government organizations with the helpline service to make it more reachable and efficient.
Affirming the response duration, the official stated that the duration of response to each call will be around eight minutes and there will be continuous attempts in improving the service quality and standard.
The progress and development of this resourceful project has been assessed by Anil Deshmukh, Home Minister of Maharashtra in February, the official added. Consecutively, the police departments have been advised to buy around 1,502 four-wheelers and 2,269 two-wheelers as a part of this project to provide prompt service at the right time as soon as they receive emergency calls.
Earlier United Nations and other developed nations had started this helpline service, while India had commenced the helpline operations of activating single emergency helpline number '112' in February 2019. However, 16 states and Union Territories are planning upon starting this service as well.
