lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday directed land owning agencies to expedite allotment of land for new police stations in the city after Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi informed him that 32 out of the 181 police stations are currently being run at rented buildings and makeshift structures.
Some of the areas where new police stations are envisaged in the city are Bharat Nagar, Neb Sarai, Safdarjung Enclave, Govindpuri, Pul Prahlad Pur, Subhash Palace, Kotla Mubarak Pur, IP Estate, Deshbandhu Gupta Road, Saket, Sonia Vihar, Fatehpur Beri, Chhawla, Ranholla and Harsh Vihar.
The directive was issued at a meeting on Wednesday which was chaired by Jung at the Raj Niwas to take up the issue of allotment of land to new police stations in Delhi. The meeting was attended by Commissioner of Police and representatives from DDA, municipalities, as also land & Development Officer (MoUD), Deputy Commissioners, SDMs and other senior Government officials.
During the meeting, the police commissioner informed l-G that out of the existing 181 police stations, 32 police stations are currently running in rented buildings, porta cabins, tents etc. And these need to be shifted to permanent structures.
Jung directed the land owning agencies to expedite the process of allotting land to these 32 police stations on topmost priority. lack of space has been a major hindrance in running the day-to-day activity of these police stations. Some of the police stations do not have lock-ups hence those arrested are locked in other police stations. There is a shortage of rooms for the Investigating Officers and sometimes the case exhibits are kept in other police stations to avoid pilferage. With l-G’s interference the process to procure the land will be expedited the official added.
“Policing is the top most priority for our Government. With expanding responsibilities, there is need to set up police stations in different parts of the city. The land agencies must extend all their cooperation and fast-track the allotment of land for setting up these police stations at the earliest,” said Jung.
Jung also directed land owning agencies and concerned officials to submit a status report on each of these locations to him by first week of October so that allotment of land for building new police stations is expedited. In certain cases where formalities for allotment of land have been completed, the land owning agencies were directed to give possession of land to the Delhi Police immediately. The l-G will review the allotment process with all concerned in mid October, said a senior Delhi Police official.