Emergency call booths on NH-44 non-functional

Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, February 18

Emergency call boxes (ECBs) established on the Panipat-Jalandhar section of the National Highway-44 are non-functional even after two and a half years of the 2016 deadline of the project.

Official sources said Soma-Isolux NH1 Tollway, a consortium of Spanish company Isolux Corsan and its Indian partner Soma Enterprises, engaged by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the widening of the the NH-4 to six lanes was mandated to set up Save Our Souls (SOS) booths at every 2 km on the 291-km stretch. The facility was expected to be functional in July 2016.

A random survey of the highway by The Tribune revealed that emergency helpline phone booths erected along the highway about three years ago were not functional. The sources said ECBs connected through underground optical fibre and solar panels were installed on poles to energise them.

According to a plan, once functional, commuters can contact the help desk by pressing a ‘call button’ on the ECB in case of a vehicle breakdown, accident or any other traffic-related problem. Meanwhile, NHAI general manager Gautam Vishal refused to comment.

Kurukshetra DC SS Phulia said on Monday that NHAI officials had told him that the booths were non-functional and he had asked them for a detailed explanation. Meanwhile, sources said there was a plan to establish a 24x7 help desk at Shambhu on the Ambala-Patiala border.

Highway helpline 

• The facility was expected to be functional in July 2016.
• Once functional, commuters can contact the help desk  by pressing a ‘call button’ on the emergency call boxes in case of a vehicle breakdown, accident or any other traffic-related problem.