Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Concern over rise in fake emergency calls

By SANJOY RAY

GUWAHATI, Jan 13 � Irrelevant calls from pranksters and unattended kids are directly killing the life-saving reaction time of two of the State�s most crucial toll-free 24x7 emergency service numbers in 108 and Dial 100.

Records show that there has been a worrying increase in the number of ineffective calls recorded both in Dial 100 police control room in Guwahati and the 108 medical emergency service number State-wide, directly affecting the average response time of the emergency staff to reach out to those in distress.

Of the 34, 70, 656 calls that were received during the year 2014 by the 108 emergency centre control room, a whopping 1,84,757 of them turned out to be irrelevant calls from pranksters, children, nuisance and abusive caller.

A study of the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute has shown that irrelevant callers comprise nearly 58 per cent of the total calls received.

�People should understand that by not playing such pranks, they can contribute in saving human lives. Even children should be taught to use in a positive manner. It is all about saving public money and human lives,� an official of the Health department told The Assam Tribune.

Similarly, the Dial 100 of Assam Police set up in Guwahati to facilitate quick response from police to those in distress too has recorded a high rate of such irritating calls that has directly affected its response time.

In the last three years, of the 11, 04,946 calls the Dial 100 control room had received, only 6,111 actual incidents were reported clearly reflecting the blatant misuse of an emergency service.

�Apart from the calls that report on incidents, people also seek genuine information by calling on Dial 100. But even if we include calls from such information seekers, frequency of calls especially from pranksters and unattended children is very high,� Additional SP (Dial 100) Biraj Das said.

He said that on a number of occasions, we have even tracked down such callers and registered cases against them.

With an average reaction time of 11.89 minutes, the primary objective of Dial 100 is to render police services to the citizens in an efficient manner exploiting the state-of-the art technology. Every emergency call is prioritized and dispatched in accordance with its severity or threat.

Around 30 calls land in the Dial 100 control at a time of which 10 could be attended at a time.

�If more than 10 calls land at a time then the others remain in queue, which is why it is crucial for public in general to behave responsibly,� said Das.

Next Story