Press red for help: GVMC installs Emergency Call Boxes in Vizag

With an aim to offer instant help to citizens, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) installed fifty Emergency Call Boxes (ECB) across Vizag. Using ECBs, the citizens can now seek help in times of emergency, with just a click of a button. 

Taking to Twitter, the City Operations Centre GVMC shared, “Smart City Visakhapatnam installed Emergency Call Boxes in major junctions all through the city and provided SOS feature in Smart Vizag mobile app. Citizens can avail emergency help by pressing the Red Button”.

The Emergency Call Boxes have been installed at prime areas in the city, including the railway station, airport, RTC Complex, Diamond Park, Swarnabharati Stadium, Dabagardens, near Kursura Submarine

, VMRDA Park, and Old Post Office, among other places. Crime activities, road accidents, dog bites, domestic and industrial fire accidents, issues related to women safety, and medical emergencies will be addressed through the ECB service. 

Speaking with Yo! Vizag, the GVMC City Operations Centre (COC) Manager, Krishna Kumar said, ”ECB is a user-friendly box. The facility flaunts a red button and once a person presses it, the Command Call Centre (CCC) at GVMC gets a direct call. A tiny camera, which is fixed above the red button, will enable the team to take note of the incidents at the site of trouble. As soon as the citizens tap on the red button, the team tracks the location. Upon receiving the details of the user and the incident, through the speaker inserted in the ECB, the operators immediately alert and direct the concerned authorities to the location.” 

“The emergency team will be following up with the complainant until the person receives help. Likewise, the SOS feature has also been updated on the Smart Vizag mobile application which facilitates the public to seek help from GVMC. The operators at CCC will be assisting the public, round the clock, in case of unexpected situations,” Mr Kumar further added.

However, to the flip side, the COC manager informed that the operators have received as many as fifty fake calls per day, since the time of the installation of the emergency boxes.