No distress call made from emergency boxes in Karnal in 3 years

Tribune News Service

Parveen Arora

Karnal, June 30

The emergency call boxes installed at 35 strategic points across the city under the Karnal Smart City project have failed to evoke public interest.

These boxes are a crucial component of the Smart City project and are connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre. It is an ambitious project of the Smart City Mission, which had been implemented at a cost of Rs 153 crore and was inaugurated by former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on December 5, 2021.

How these work

• Equipped with a call button and a voice communication system, emergency call boxes are designed to provide immediate assistance to a person in emergency.
• In case of an emergency, a person can press the button to establish direct communication with the Integrated Command and Control Centre. These boxes are affixed to poles at almost all junctions of the city.
• As per the authorities, after pressing the button, the call is automatically connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre, where a police team remains present to assist the caller.

As per the data, no distress call has been made since the inauguration of the facility. Testing calls were only recorded to ensure that the system worked properly.

Equipped with a call button and a voice communication system, these boxes are designed to provide immediate assistance to a person in emergency.

A person seeking help can press the button to establish direct communication with the Integrated Command and Control Centre. These boxes are affixed to poles at almost all junctions of the city. As per the authorities, after pressing the button, the call is automatically connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre, where a police team remains present to assist the caller.

The lack of public response raises concerns over the project’s effectiveness. An official said people may not be aware of the project and its purpose.

“I prefer using my mobile phone for availing emergency services instead of emergency call boxes,” said Rajan, a local resident.

The authorities claim that efforts are underway to make people aware of these boxes. “We are creating awareness about the use of emergency call boxes. Information about these is displayed on LED screens installed at 36 points. We are going to use a public announcement system installed at 35 points to make these boxes popular among the people,” said Ramphal, General Manager of Karnal Smart City Ltd.

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