Acceding to a representation from the architect who had prepared the blueprint of the proposed police headquarters on Parliament Street, the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) has withheld clearance to the plan.
In its meeting held recently, the architect suggested some tweaks to the master plan to which the Commission agreed. Following the decision of the DUAC, the proposal to construct a new 17-storey twin tower police headquarters has been deferred. Delhi Police currently operates from a section of the Public Works Department (PWD) headquarters at ITO.
The new police HQ complex is to be constructed behind Parliament Street Police Station, a heritage structure that harks back to 1913. This is the same building where Shaheed Bhagat Singh was detained before being shifted to lahore Jail in 1929 after the bomb attack in the Central legislative Assembly. The Police Station still has a picture of Bhagat Singh in lockup after detention.
The new police HQ complex would have a twin tower block along with interconnecting corridors. It will also have a helipad. The new headquarters will be spread over eight acres of land and will also house the Police Control Room and the Commissioner’s office. It will also have a seminar hall and auditorium.
The building will conform to the Green Building Norms. The elevation of the building has been designed to achieve and do justice to the rich heritage of the location, formal nature of the organisation’s work, adhere to a contemporary image to have a lasting landmark in the city’s landscape.
“The office is to be equipped for high tech operations and provide efficient workspace for the country's premier force. The project would need to be planned as per the Master Plan of Delhi 2021,” sources said. The building was delayed by red-tapsim as DUAC and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) took ages to clear the project. It also resulted in cost escalation. To worsen problems, the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde rescinded his earlier decision and did not attend the foundation stone laying ceremony.
Despite being the most elite police force in the country, Delhi Police does not have its own building where it can establish its headquarters. Delhi Police has its headquarters in the borrowed premises of MSO building at Vikas Marg where it shares space with the PWD.