Chennai: A technical snag in the BSNL line on Tuesday affected the state-run 108 emergency ambulance services and 104 helpline numbers for about 12 hours. Officials of the emergency services said, “The line did not work from 11 pm on Tuesday to 10 am on Wednesday. The problem was between the BSNL exchange and the networking equipment.” Officials of the services did announce an alternate number (044-71709009), but very few calls were received on it.
The 108 service receives over 16,000 calls and handles about 2,500 patients every day across the state, the number increasing after 6 pm. Most of the calls at night were road accident-related, some involving drunken driving.
The 104 helpline, which usually receives around 500 to 600 calls per night, got hardly 10 calls on Tuesday night. Calls for the mortuary van at number 155377 also did not come in on Tuesday night. Health minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar said that they took steps immediately to rectify the problem.
