In what underlines the apathy of Noida Police towards its own personnel, nearly a hundred traffic policemen are forced to live in deplorable condition without civic amenities, including drinking water and toilets.
At least 90 traffic policemen, comprising constables and head constables have been living in dilapidated rooms in an abandoned school premises braving extreme weather conditions. The structure, used to be a primary school, which was abandoned until it was allotted to traffic police in 2011. In the absence of proper maintenance, walls of the rooms developed cracks and the roofs of a few rooms are damaged.
Most of the rooms are bereft of doors, and windows have been removed from almost all houses. In the name of basic amenities, there is only a single source of water, while there is no toilet and the inhabitants have to defecate in the open in the adjoining area falling under the Okhla Bird Sanctuary’s limits.
“We have no other option, but stay in the damaged building. We cannot even bring our families to these quarters,” a police official staying in the quarters said. MP Singh, Superintendent of traffic police said they have put their demand before the Noida Authority to either repair these quarters or shift police force to some other place.
“We have not received any assurance from them as yet. Earlier, the authority had ordered for maintenance work but that proved quite insufficient. We have requested the concerned officials to visit the place again so they know about the problems faced by us in our day-to-day life,” said Singh.
A senior official of the Noida Authority said they are concerned about the condition of Noida Traffic Police and are planning to provide them with basic infrastructure. “We are aware of the difficulties faced by the traffic police and a decision in this regard will be taken soon,” said PK Agarwal, Additional CEO of Noida Authority.