‘112’ to be national emergency number

New Delhi, March 28

People will soon have to dial just a single number '112' for help during emergency situations such as availing services of police, ambulance and the fire department.

The proposal to have a single number for various emergency services, approved by the inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission, would be similar to the '911' all-in-one emergency service in the US.

All existing emergency numbers will be phased out within a year of rolling out 112, depending upon the awareness about this new facility.

"Telecom Commission has accepted Trai's recommendation on single emergency number 112. It will now be drafted by the Department of Telecom and will require Telecom Minister's (Ravi Shankar Prasad) approval. It will be rolled out within months rather than a year," an official source said, adding the panel has accepted recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) after including clarifications given by it. — PTI