Dial-112 provided emergency help to 55L people, says ADG

Patna: Bihar’s ‘Dial-112’ Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) has provided emergency assistance to more than 55 lakh people since its launch on July 8, 2022, emerging as a major success in emergency policing and citizen support, according to Bihar Police Headquarters (PHQ).

Addressing a press conference at PHQ on Wednesday, additional director general (technical services and communications) Amit Lodha said, “The service can be accessed round the clock from anywhere in the state via call, SMS, the Dial-112 India app, SOS or web portal. It integrates police, fire brigade, ambulance and child helpline services under one number.”

Lodha said one of the biggest achievements of the system has been the sharp reduction in response time. Police, ambulance and fire services now reach incident spots in less than 11 minutes on average across Bihar.

A total of 1,833 emergency response vehicles (ERVs), including 1,283 four-wheelers and 550 two-wheelers, have been deployed across the state. More than 6,500 citizens use the service daily, marking a 15% rise compared to last year.

Officials said all 346 call-takers at the Patna Command and Control Centre are trained women police personnel.

According to an analysis conducted by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), the effectiveness of Dial-112 has contributed to a decline in major crimes in the state. Compared to 2024, murder cases have dropped by 22%, robbery by 38% and crimes against women by 21% in 2025.

“The Dial-112 has addressed more than 4,69,347 cases of domestic violence, crime against women and child so far. It has also resolved over 29.97 lakh cases of local disputes and assaults, rescued more than 2.39 lakh injured persons and handled over 1.30 lakh cases of fire incidents with immediate fire team dispatch. In Sept 2024, Bihar became the third state to launch ‘Surakshit Safar Suvidha’. Women travelling alone can share trip details with Dial-112 for real-time monitoring. Emergency vehicles are dispatched if needed. So far, 217 women have used the facility,” Lodha said.

Bihar Police has also prepared a roadmap for modernisation of the emergency response system. A new ERSS Command and Control Centre, being constructed at a cost of Rs172.80 crore on 27 kathas of land in Rajiv Nagar, Patna, is currently under development.

In addition, a mirror-site Emergency Response Centre in Gaya is nearing completion.

Officials said the existing system would soon be upgraded to the Next Generation Emergency Response Support System (NGERSS), which would include advanced MIS and analytics reports, social media integration, automated feedback mechanisms and coordination with CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems), Railways and NHAI.

To handle the increasing operational load, modern servers equipped with six nodes and 300 TB storage capacity are being procured.