NEW DELHI: A number of police stations in the national capital are running out of temporary and ramshackle structures, much to the consternation of the forces.
“We have no option. We can’t sit in open space with a table and a chair or on service lanes,” said a woman cop at Burari police station. The worst things they have to deal everyday are to deal with stray dogs, cats, squirrels, mosquitoes, insects and sometimes even snakes that crawl into their tents. “These are our permanent and frequent guests apart from complainants,” said another woman cop.
At around four of the police stations this correspondent visited, eight to ten policemen were sitting on the seized vehicles parked inside the rented buildings. Reason: there is no room or chairs to sit. The police personnel have been forced to “encroach” upon the roads outside their temporary offices to park their impounded vehicles.
In a few police stations, the impounded items and vehicles are kept in the SHOs’ and investigation officers’ rooms. In some others, the unused toilets are the storehouses for the impounded articles.
When approached for a reaction on the status of the police stations in the national capital, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi refused to comment.
However, Special Commissioner of Police (Administration) Alok Verma said, “Yes, there are problems. But the situation in many of these police stations is being improved and in coming days, more such improvements would happen.”
Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Beniwal, who heads the eastern range of Delhi Police, also reacted on similar lines. Under his range, many such “roofless” police stations are found.
“We have issues but many of the 72 police station buildings are coming up and work is progressing in a phased manner,” Beniwal said.
Proposals to allocate land and finances to build new police station buildings are with the MHA for long now. With the change of guard at the Centre and Home Minister Rajnath Singh assuring a helping hand, Delhi Police is hopeful that its pending building projects would get clearance soon.
Till then expect a “dehumanised” constable in your nearby police station?
In February 2012, the then home minister P Chidambaram had said, “You can’t wish a change in the way policing is done without addressing the issues that constrain policing and which in a sense dehumanise the police constable.”
No Place to Call Station
■ Kotla Mubarakpur Police Station (In park operated by Gram Sabha)
■ Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station Police Station (Temporary structure on railway land)
■ Govindpuri Police Station (In police post building)
■ Palam Village Police Station (Temporarily running from police post building)
■ Mahendra Park Police Station (In DDA flat)
■ Kapashera Police Station (Porta cabin)
■ Crime Branch Police Station (Functioning from old Nehru Place police post porta cabin)
■ Sangam Vihar Police Station (Porta cabin)
■ Burari Police Station (Porta cabin and tents)
■ North Rohini (Private Building)
■ New Ashok Nagar police station (Porta cabin and rented building)
■ Greater Kailash Police Station (Temporary structure and porta cabins)
■ Dabri Police Station (Porta cabin)
■ Gokulpuri Police Station (Rented house)
■ Dwarka South Police Station (Temporary building)