Police station goes back to parking lot

Police station goes back to parking lot
Author: Hemanth Kashyap Date: 06 Feb 2008

Road widening pushes High Grounds cops out of swanky building back to turf club car park
New look: A software firm had sponsored the station on Sankey Road pic/satish b

A year ago, High Grounds police were given a brand new building on Sankey Road for their station. On Monday, they will have to go back to working out of the parking lot of the Bangalore Turf Club on Race Course Road.

The BBMP is going to widen Sankey Road and will demolish the new building.

BBMP pressure

DCP (central) B N S Reddy told MiD DAY, “We have got a notice and will have to vacate. We still haven’t found a new building. And with the pressure from the BBMP, we will have to make alternative arrangements soon.”

The BBMP says they have given the cops enough time to relocate. “We have given them ten days notice. We can’t give them any more time as our work will suffer,” BBMP commissioner Subramanya said.

back to baSICS: The cops were working out of a shed in 2005-06
‘When it rains, God help us’

The High Grounds police station was originally at Chalukya Circle. Later, when Mariswamy was police chief, a private company offered to renovate the building and the policemen were ‘temporarily’ moved to Turf Club parking lot in October 2005.

After MiD DAY reported their plight on November 13, 2006, the owner of Encore Software Systems sponsored a building for them on Sankey Road.

The new station, built at a cost of Rs 28 lakh, was inaugurated on January 3, 2007.

The BBMP has now asked the police to vacate this building too.

Going back

High Grounds cops have started preparing for their move. A shed is being built in the parking lot.
Constables told MiD DAY the earlier arrangements were very difficult to live with.

“We had a small shed with a cement sheet for a roof and no ventilation. The entire structure had developed cracks, so when it rained, we were in big trouble! We did not have even have any drinking water facility at the station.”

The station, which housed more than 100 police personnel, did not even have a toilet. Women constables are particularly concerned about this problem.

“Criminals at the station will also have to be taken to the Race Course club if they want to use the toilet,” a constable said.

Security concern

High Grounds usually has around 20-30 offenders at the station in a week. The policemen need at least a day to interrogate them before taking them to court.

“We can’t keep them here for even six hours. Guarding them is a serious problem,” said a policeman. The parking lot does not have a place for the police to keep criminals.