The Delhi government has announced that it was developing a common emergency helpline — 112 — with the objective to “free people from the burden of remembering multiple numbers during crises and ensuring swift help”. The common helpline number is being developed under the Union government’s Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) 2.0. Several states, including neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh among others have already switched to using an integrated emergency response number.
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta said that the initiative is being undertaken to make emergency services in the Capital more effective, faster, and technology-enabled.
Currently, different helpline numbers are used for various emergency services for seeking assistance — 100 for the police, 101 for fire services, 108 for ambulance and health services, and 1077 for disaster management and relief services, among others.
“This multiplicity often leads to confusion and delays during critical situations. Under ERSS 2.0, citizens will no longer need to call separate numbers for different emergencies; all assistance can be sought by dialling 112 alone,” the CM said, adding that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had declared ‘112’ as the national emergency number, and in line with this, Delhi is moving towards its implementation.
A government official explained that the ERSS 2.0 is a modern, unified signal-handling system that will receive all emergency calls, mobile app alerts, panic button activations, SMS, and web alerts at a single public safety answering point.
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