Civic body helplines snapped

All dedicated landline numbers to the emergency wing of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) have been snapped by the service provider for non-payment of dues. The landline numbers (including 022-65340191 /92 /93 / 94 and 96) are for emergency services including on-call ambulance and hearse vehicles.

The matter came to light when former BJP corporator Om Prakash Garodia dialled one of numbers to ferry a patient to hospital in the civic ambulance and soon realised that all the emergency numbers publicised by the MBMC had stopped working. When contacted, administrative in-charge, Hemant Patil, confirmed that the phone lines had been snapped for dues. Surprisingly, the arrears amount is just Rs 2,056 for the eight telephone connections.

However Patil blamed the service-provider for their delay in despatching the telephone bills, which had led to this blunder. “We never keep the bills pending once we receive it, they are verified and forwarded for disbursement. But in this particular case, the bills are either delayed and sometimes we never get them. We will immediately clear the arrears and restore the services,” said Patil adding that if the problem persists, the MBMC will be compelled to explore alternatives.

It should be noted that the emergency wing of the civic body has a fleet of four ambulances and three hearse vehicles which are stationed at the ward offices in Mira Road and Bhayandar.