Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah yesterday launched ‘Namma 100,’ a re-christened and upgraded emergency response service Dial 100 of Bengaluru Police.

After the inauguration, he said, that “Bengaluru Police is equipped with technology. They need to curb crimes involving habitual offenders and the State Government is committed to help in whatever way possible. Similar help lines will be launched in other cities including Mysuru in the near future,” he said.

In Mysuru, the facility will be accommodated at the new City Police Commissioner’s Office that is being constructed at Nazarbad, said Mysuru City Police Commissioner Dr. A Subramanyeshwara Rao.

According to Dayananda, Duty Signal Officer, Mysuru City Police Control Room, as of now, there is no information about ‘Namma 100’  coming to Mysuru. He said that the facility will be available in the near future.

The Rs. 30 crore upgraded emergency response service has 100 phone lines as against 20 of Dail 100. Around 275 employees will take up to 8,000 calls per day as against around 3,000 calls received by Dial 100 on a daily basis.

‘Namma 100’ aims to be the go-to telephone number for emergency services, much like 911 in the US and 999 in Britain. It will also cater to people seeking help on social media.

The service aims to drastically reduce the time to address a complaint and rush Police patrol cars to crime spots. The Police Control Room staff will take just two minutes to understand a complaint and a mere 30 seconds to alert the nearest Hoysala Patrol car to reach the spot.

The staff will be able to identify the exact location of the caller with an enhanced Global Positioning System (GPS) and assisted real-time technology with the help of the Telecom Department. “Call response will be in 15 seconds and Hoysala intervention in less than 15 minutes,” said Bengaluru Commissioner of Police Praveen Sood.

‘Namma 100’ has added features. One can dial 100 and press 1 for Police, 2 for traffic and 3 for enquiry and appointments.

Also, with ‘Namma 100’ people can fix an appointment with the Police Officers concerned. For instance, if a person has an issue with passport verification, he or she can call 100 and fix an appointment with the Police Officer concerned.

“In two or three weeks, ‘Namma 100’ will fix appointments with the local Police on non-emergency issues such as passport verification,” Sood said.