India, March 30 -- Over the last five years, the Maharashtra police have reduced their response time to the national emergency response number 112 by 81%, said officials. In 2021, when the helpline number was introduced in the state, police teams took an average of 55 minutes to reach the spots, but now they only take around 8 minutes.

The 112 helpline, introduced nationwide after the 2012 Nirbhaya case in Delhi, serves as a single emergency number for police, fire, ambulance, and women's and child helpline services.

Nikhil Gupta, additional director general of police, law and order, said, "In Maharashtra, we started the 112 helpline in 2021. We tied up with Mahindra Defence and started a primary contact centre in Navi Mumbai and a seco...