The Mumbai Fire Brigade’s control room helpline has not been operational on several occasions over the past month, with the officials citing problems with MTNL connection. The department is now planning to switch to private service providers such as Jio or Tata to navigate the challenges of unstable networks.

The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) provides essential telecom and data centre services to government entities, including the fire control room and other emergency services in Mumbai. The MTNL landline connects to the department’s command and control centre at the headquarters in Byculla and is one of the ways in which the Fire Brigade can be contacted by the citizens.