Now toll free number 1554 for maritime help
TNN | Feb 10, 2019, 04:07 ISTMangaluru: On lines of emergency numbers 100 and 108 for police and ambulance services, respectively, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has launched a toll free helpline number 1554 for maritime help.
The ICG has come up with the service with a view of providing emergency maritime search and rescue help and better accessibility, according to DIG Surendra Singh Dasila, commander, Coast Guard Karnataka.
The initiative comes close on the heels of a major boat tragedy and the mysterious disappearance of a boat in the coastal belt of Karnataka in less than two months.
Dasila told TOI that the toll free number was already in place. The service has now got a fillip with two service providers – BSNL and Jio – coming on board for the purpose. He said the ICG has written to all service providers and more are likely to join in the near future.
“Just as you have any other emergency number, 1554 connects the user with ICG. With this, we aim at reaching out to people in the quickest possible time,” he said. “We have shot letters to all service providers and are anticipating positive responses from them soon,” Dasila added.
Bolstering of the toll free number assumes significance as the coastal belt saw two major tragedies in the recent past. On January 21, 15 people died after a ferry carrying 33 devotees to Narasimha jatra in Kurmagad island capsized in the Kali river near Karwar.
On December 15, a fishing boat named Suvarna Tribhuja, with eight fishermen on board, went missing off the Goa coast, two days after it left from Malpe Fishing Harbour. The last communication from the boat was on December 15.
Dasila, however, clarified that the boat tragedy and the disappearance of the Suvarna Tribhuja had no role to play in the launch of the number 1554, and that the initiative is part of the ICG’s constant efforts towards providing better services.
The ICG has come up with the service with a view of providing emergency maritime search and rescue help and better accessibility, according to DIG Surendra Singh Dasila, commander, Coast Guard Karnataka.
The initiative comes close on the heels of a major boat tragedy and the mysterious disappearance of a boat in the coastal belt of Karnataka in less than two months.
Dasila told TOI that the toll free number was already in place. The service has now got a fillip with two service providers – BSNL and Jio – coming on board for the purpose. He said the ICG has written to all service providers and more are likely to join in the near future.
“Just as you have any other emergency number, 1554 connects the user with ICG. With this, we aim at reaching out to people in the quickest possible time,” he said. “We have shot letters to all service providers and are anticipating positive responses from them soon,” Dasila added.
Bolstering of the toll free number assumes significance as the coastal belt saw two major tragedies in the recent past. On January 21, 15 people died after a ferry carrying 33 devotees to Narasimha jatra in Kurmagad island capsized in the Kali river near Karwar.
On December 15, a fishing boat named Suvarna Tribhuja, with eight fishermen on board, went missing off the Goa coast, two days after it left from Malpe Fishing Harbour. The last communication from the boat was on December 15.
Dasila, however, clarified that the boat tragedy and the disappearance of the Suvarna Tribhuja had no role to play in the launch of the number 1554, and that the initiative is part of the ICG’s constant efforts towards providing better services.
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