112 to be police emergency helpline

This is as part of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) of the Centre that envisages launching an integrated emergency response system with a single emergency number 112, to address different emergencies of citizens. The single emergency number system is similar to the ‘911’ of the US and ‘999’ of the UK. This number will integrate all the emergency services like the police, ambulance, fire service, etc, through the call centres being set up in each state. Other numbers like 101 (fire service) and 108 (ambulance) will no longer be in use.
“All the states will have to switch over to the new system. We will decide on the final launch soon. As of now, we are running it on a trial basis,” state police chief Loknath Behera said.