Khattar launches Haryana’s single emergency number ‘112’

Chandigarh, July 12

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday launched the state’s centralised emergency response and support system (CSERC) ‘Dial 112’.

The CSERC’s centralised telephone number will be for emergency complaints concerning police, fire, health, road accidents and any other emergencies, Khattar said in Panchkula before launching the service.

Home and Health Minister Anil Vij, state Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta and Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Yadava were among those present on the occasion.

Khattar and Vij flagged off 630 emergency response vehicles equipped with mobile data terminals from Panchkula during the occassion.

The chief minister also inaugurated the newly-built state-of-the-art State Emergency Response Centre (SERC) at Panchkula, which is the nerve-centre of the state’s ‘Dial 112’ project.

With the introduction of this new response system, the existing emergency numbers like 100 (police), 101 (fire), and 108 (ambulance) will be integrated into the unified toll free number 112, Khattar said.

Executed with a budget of more than Rs 300 crore, the system is designed in such a way that it promises minimum response time to citizens in distress with an average of 15 to 20 minutes all over Haryana, said Vij.

The system is based on hi-tech geospatial technology providing immediate response to the distress calls received from across the state, justifying the initiative’s tagline “Just a call away”, said Vij.

The home minister said that two vehicles per police station will be made available for speedy response to emergencies.

Vij said that four language experts—Hindi, English, Punjabi and Haryanvi—will be appointed in call centres to deal with complaints.

After receiving calls, these language expert teams will forward the message to the response team, which will ensure to reach the complainant within 15 to 20 minutes, he said.

The state government is committed to providing prompt emergency support to its citizens and hence envisaged developing a robust system, said Khattar.

This state-of-the-art system would further improve the overall security scenario and would also help in prevention of crime across the state, he said.

‘Dial 112’ project will bring transparency and ensure accountability among the various emergency service providers, which will lead to faster emergency services delivery to the residents of Haryana, Vij said.

Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajiv Arora, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) IT A S Chawla and senior officers of the police department were also present on this occasion.

The system shall be operated by nearly 5,000 trained personnel, while 630 brand new SUVs are equipped with 23 in-fleet items, including first-aid-boxes, stretcher, crime extrication kit, to take required action on the spot.   

The SERC building in Panchkula has been digitally connected to the Police Control Room at district-level and suitably located emergency response vehicles and details of response time to reach the complainant will be recorded, said Vij.

This building has been strengthened with advanced infrastructure to cater to all the emergency services centrally.

To handle the additional call load at SERC and to switch operation in case of any technical failure at SERC, a “Mirror Emergency Response Center  (MERC)”, having a capacity of 20 per cent to that of the main SERC centre has been established in Gurgaon, said Khattar.

These centres are able to respond to multiple modes of communication, including phone calls, SMS, e-mail, 112 mobile app, he said.

Vij, during his address on the occasion, lamented that many Indian films in the past projected a negative image of the police, often showing that they reach the incident spot after much delay.

He said with advancement of technology and modernisation of the police force that was now a thing of the past.

Vij lauded the Haryana Police for the services provided by it amid the Covid pandemic and said they ensured strict implementation of the government guidelines related to Covid among the public, which helped bring down daily cases from nearly 16,000 two months ago to almost 50 now.

“Many police personnel got infected while some even lost their lives, but to fight the invisible enemy police department did a great job,” he said, adding that at the peak of the second Covid wave the police department also provided its vehicles which were used as ambulances. PTI