Emergency response service to be extended to all districts in Karnataka

The Karnataka government on Thursday decided to extend Namma 100, a re-christened and upgraded emergency response service Dial 100 of Bengaluru police, to all 30 districts in the state.

"The emergency response service Dial 100 will be extended to all districts at an estimated cost of Rs 13.73 crore. The central government will contributed Rs 8.73 crore and the remaining by Karnataka," Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra told reporters here.

On June 10, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched Namma 100.

The state government spent Rs 30 crore to implement the upgraded emergency response service in Bengaluru.

It has 100 phone lines as against 20 of Dial 100. Around 275 employees have been attending to 8,000 calls every day as against around 3,000 calls received by Dial 100.

Namma 100 aims to be the go-to telephone number for emergency services, much like 911 in the US and 999 in Britain. It will also cater to people seeking help on social media.

The service aims to drastically reduce the time to address a complaint and rush police patrol cars to crime spots.

The Police Control Room staff will take just two minutes to note a complaint and a mere 30 seconds to alert the nearest police patrol car to reach the spot.

The staff will be able to identify the exact location of the caller with an enhanced Global Positioning System (GPS) and assisted real-time technology with the help of the Telecom Department.

Namma 100 has added features. One can dial 100 and press one for police, two for traffic, and three for enquiry and appointments.

"The Cabinet also decided to install closed-circuit television cameras at 774 police stations and 35 offices of Commissioner of Police and District Superintendent of Police," Jayachandra said.

--IANS

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