Shocking as it might sound in these days of high telephone penetration rates, barely 20 percent of the 43 traffic aid posts or TAPs on the state’s national highways have phones to communicate with their control rooms.

The mobile number displayed on the highways rings at the traffic police control room in the Additional Director-General’s office in Mumbai and is received by a policeman on duty.

If you, for instance, spot an accident on the Mumbai-Pune expressway or the Mumbai-Goa highway and call the number, the policeman on duty is forced to hunt for the private mobile numbers of policemen in the area.

And if those numbers are switched off or out of range, help is obviously delayed.

“Only seven or eight TAP’s have landline phones,” said Sarang Avhad, SP, Highways, Thane Range. “For others we have to maintain the private phone numbers of the TAP’s officers. Many times there is a delay on reaching the place of an incident because of this.” Additional DG Arup Patnaik was not available to comment despite several attempts to reach him.

TAPs have not had landlines for over a decade, police sources said. The highways covered by them include Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Agra, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Pune-Aurangabad and Pune-Kolhapur.

“Three SP’s were allotted landline phones after applying with the government. But funds have not been forthcoming because of the cost and recurring expenditure that comes with a phone,” said a source.

Often, a policeman who receives a call from the control room is either working on another shift or is on leave and has to struggle to locate a colleague on duty, he said.

Some relief is in sight though, officers said. The highway police is in talks with a private phone service provider and if they are successful, TAPs will get 60 connections soon.