Basic facilities missing, police stations cry out for attention

GURGAON: Not much seems to have changed on the ground since TOI carried out a reality check of various police stations in the city last year. The outcome of a similar exercise this year too is not encouraging, even though senior police officials claim otherwise.
While some police stations are still functioning out of make-shift arrangements for want of their own buildings, most of them do not even have proper drinking and toilet facilities. As the job demands half of the police force to stay back and spend a considerable time on the police station premises, they have to face problems on a daily basis. Currently, cops staying at the police station premises are provided beds, but they have to buy mattresses and utensils themselves. Some policemen, who have come together to buy coolers on their won, are a bit fortunate when it comes to beating the scorching heat.

Police stations like Kherki Dhaula are still running from a dilapidated two-floor rented building. The station lacks proper drinking facilities and cops have to depend on 20-litre jars brought from a nearby Haldiram’s restaurant. While the SHO’s room has AC, lower ranks officials have to conduct their duty even without air-coolers. The police station does not even have any lock-up facility and accused are kept chained to a wooden sofa lying in the investigating officer’s room. What’s worse, many constables are forced to live in a nearby dharamshala which has three to four beds. A constable at a room in the City police station (near Police Line) can’t even switch on his cooler because it brings in the stench of a neighbouring morgue. The heat makes the stink worse. The toilets are lying dirty with waste accumulated in several locations. The shower area isn’t naturally lit and doesn’t have any light. Their only relief for cleaner facilities lies in the fact that the police line is close by. Their mess is clean and the ration lies in a locked room. Their dish-washing is separate; however, it is clogged with the water coming in from the kitchen where the sink is broken. Their water cooler is working but the RO system “has been sent for servicing”.
The Sector 29 police station near Huda City Centre has a filthy mess. The utensils lie unwashed till they the time they are used again. “The television doesn’t work,” reveals a police official, who didn’t want to be named. Only this police station has a separate ladies’ room and toilet. However, their maintenance is poor. When contacted, SHO Jagdish Parshad refused to comment and asked the reporter to talk to the police commissioner. A senior cop at the so-called high-tech Civil Lines police station said there was everything like water coolers and air-coolers.
But a bit of probing revealed that like other police stations they are also dependent on bottled water and few earthen pots to get cool water. The official added that air-coolers have been kept in the store room as they do not need them now, even though the temperature inside the control room demanded otherwise. The Sector 38 Sadar police station on Sohna Road doesn’t even have an actual mess. The food is cooked on fire lit by wood and the reception-cum-visiting area is used for dining purposes at night. During the daytime, chairs are brought around a short, cemented frame outside the main building which they call mess. The only police station whose SHO sits in a non air-conditioned office is that of DLF Phase 1. The police there have pooled in for a common fridge and pay for the ration themselves. Their toilets are comparatively cleaner too. Police commissioner K K Sindhu said it was an ongoing process of providing facilities at police stations. Sindhu added that public and private agencies are responsible for building police stations in the city. And as soon as they come up, rented ones will get their permanent addresses, said the senior police official.