Prank calls to the fire emergency number 101

Fire-fighters in State Emergency Department accuse the police department of non-cooperation in tracing those who make blank or prank calls to the fire emergency number 101.

The fire office telecom operators are irked by the increasing number of futile calls. On an average only 10 per cent of the 1,000 calls received daily by fire- fighters are genuine and rest are prank calls.

There's no stringent rule in the country to take action against those who play with emergency services for the heck of it. Adding to their woes, blank and prank calls made by children are also causing nuisance. Some of the callers include drunkards. The problem hits a peak on Sundays and public holidays, when people prefer to stay at home.

In one instance, a woman used to repeatedly call the fire control room from Abids and then hand over the receiver to her baby, whenever the latter refused to eat. The department also used to receive calls from a youth. "He would give us as much abusive language as he could," said an official

"With the introduction of toll free calling from cell phones, the number of prank calls have increased," said the official. Many callers even request them to recharge their cell phones. "The government has provided toll free numbers for the benefit of people, but many are misusing them," he added.

Amazingly, a boy used to dial 101 at least 15 times a day and speak with firemen in a girl’s voice that she is alone in the house and requesting them to visit her. Unable to bear the nuisance, the fire officials gave a stringent warning to him and made it clear that a case would be booked against him if he did not stop the prank.

Fire personnel on night shifts have to tolerate hundreds of calls from inebriated people, who shower them with the abuses. "We disconnect the line in such cases. The problem is that a genuine caller might be trying and not able to get through to us. Unless some punishment or stringent action is taken against the culprits the problem will continue," one of the operators attending 101 calls said.