Winds of change in police dept

Winds of change in police dept
New Building To Reflect Bangalore’s IT Image
The Times of India

Bangalore: In line with the swanky look of the Silicon Valley, the Bangalore city police commissionerate building is in for the snazzy IT make-over.

The new five-storeyed building, which is to come up in the present police commissioner’s office premises on Infantry Road, may well be mistaken for an IT/BPO company after it dons the new ‘non-governmental’ look.

To be constructed at a cost of Rs 12.6 crore, the project will be executed through the Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation (KSPHC). Speaking to The Times of India, KSPHC superintending engineer N.S. Ramesh said: “Tenders have been called and the project will be completed in 18 months, probably by mid-2007.’’

The idea of constructing a new building was mooted about six months ago after the police top-brass realised that the present building was getting congested in view of the increased ancillary services, such as the helplines (for women, children and elders) and single window complaint receiving system. The proposed building, designed by a Chennai-based architect, will come up on an area measuring 1,18,328 sq ft.

The basement of the building will have an auditorium with a seating capacity of 200 persons and facilities to park about 20 cars. The ground floor will house a dormitory for reserve constables, a women’s rest room, all the three helplines, a canteen and an ATM. “We decided to house all these in the ground floor as the movement of people here is high. The other floors will not be disturbed’’, Ramesh said.

On the first floor, units such as the city crime records bureau, fingerprints bureau and the special branch will be located. The next three floors will house the office of the police commissioner and that of other senior police officers. The control room will be set up on the fifth floor.

The building will also be equipped with CCTVs, BMS (building maintenance system), LAN wiring and public address system.

“These apart, we are going in for several eco-friendly measures such as rain-water harvesting and solar lighting,’’ Ramesh said. The central portion of the building has been conceived in such a way that it is brightened with natural light. “A lot of futuristic thinking has been done in designing the building,’’ Ramesh said.

The present commissioner’s office, which has traces of a heritage building, will not be demolished, he added.