Ghaziabad: With most of the 86 SOS boxes on DME and NH-9 rusting, damaged or non-functional due to cable faults, vandalism or neglect, NHAI has installed QR-code signboards at over a dozen locations to help commuters seek emergency assistance.According to NHAI, the project information signboards with QR codes along the national highway stretches will provide relevant project-specific information and emergency helpline numbers to commuters.“Along DME and NH-9 from UP Gate to Dasna, about 10 quick response (QR) codes have been installed, while we are in the process of installing 25 such codes on DME from Dasna to Meerut stretches and 12 on Dasna to Hapur stretch of NH-9. Commuters have to scan the code, and a web page with multiple options, like emergency response, helpline number, will pop up, and commuters, as per their need, can click on it,” an official said.NHAI claims the new system is GPS-enabled, so the control room will get exact coordinates from where the request has been raised, and within 10-15 minutes, ambulance service, crane service or towing facilities could be availed of.In case of crashes, the “golden hour”, the first 60 minutes after a severe crash or injury, is crucial for saving the lives of accident victims. NHAI, in its Aug 12 order, said ambulances have to mobilise within two minutes of accepting a ticket and reach crash sites within 10 minutes for incidents up to 10 km away. It said a base penalty of Rs 10,000 will be imposed on ambulance operators who reach the accident spot more than 10 minutes after the first call is made on NHAI’s toll-free number or an SOS box set up along highways, plus an extra Rs 5,000 for every subsequent minute of delay.Rejecting an emergency dispatch ticket or GPS not found to be in working condition will also incur a fine of Rs 10,000 and Rs 2,500 daily, it said.However, NHAI’s experience with SOS boxes has not been satisfying, as most are very rarely used by commuters. A TOI report on Aug 19, ‘Ambulance response time tightened but half of SOS boxes on DME defunct’, flagged the poor condition of the emergency boxes, meant to be the first point of contact for stranded commuters and those involved in accidents. The Nizamuddin to UP Gate stretch has 16 SOS boxes, eight on each side. The UP Gate to Dasna stretch has 40 SOS boxes, 20 on each side. NHAI officials earlier told TOI that 70% of these boxes were defunct.Since the DME opened in 2021, almost no SOS calls have been received from the emergency boxes installed along both sides of the Nizamuddin–Meerut stretch. In fact, the ones that were received were fake calls. From the Nizamuddin to UP Gate stretch, fewer than 10 calls were received. On the UP Gate to Dasna stretch, eight calls were received. The Dasna to Meerut stretch received only five calls, and most of them turned out to be prank calls by children, said an NHAI official.
