To extend their helping hand to tourists thronging The Nilgiris, the most sought after tourism destination during summer to beat the heat, The Nilgiris District Police have erected helpline boards with contact numbers of police officers on the highways and important roads running through the district.
These boards also have messages on following road rules and nature conservation. Erecting signboards with the helpline numbers on the Burliar to Devala Road and Pandalur road and Kunjapanai (in Kotagiri) to Masinagudi (Mudumalai) Road started about 10 days ago.
The board mentions the name of the jurisdiction police station, mobile number of the inspector and the landline numbers of the police station, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district.
There is more. The tourists or public can also send texts or pictures through whatsapp to ‘86080-00100’.
The SP of The Nilgiris, Murali Rambha, told The Hindu that there is a person round-the-clock to check the messages received on the whatsapp number and to take them to the notice of the police station concerned and to the top police officials. Publicising these numbers have been of mutual help to the tourists and police as well.
“Even traffic snarls in the town areas and on the ghat section have been brought to our notice and helped us in serving the people better. We also received whatsapp messages appreciating us for the initiative. These messages have helped in motivating police personnel,” he said.
“We planned to erect 100 such boards and have erected more than 60 of them with the help of a sponsor. The other boards were ready but could not be erected as the police were busy with electioneering. The remaining boards will be erected soon,” Mr. Rambha said.
