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Buying utensils, delivering LPG cylinders and rations, Ghaziabad police help residents during lockdown
On the first day of the nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ghaziabad Police rushed to help residents, who made frantic calls
On the first day of the nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ghaziabad Police rushed to help residents, who made frantic calls to procure essential items. Till Wednesday afternoon, the police attended about 70 calls.
In one of such calls, police on the 112 helpline rushed to help a family procure an LPG cylinder. Caller Shekhar Singh, from Hathras, said that his uncle and aunt had come to Hathras and their two children, at B block in Vijay Nagar of Ghaziabad, needed an LPG cylinder.
“They could not go out of their house due to lockdown and called me for help. I dialled the police helpline 112 and the call was diverted to the nearest police response vehicle (PRV) in Ghaziabad. The PRV officers, within 15 to 20 minutes, located an LPG supply agency and directed the delivery person to send a cylinder to my uncle’s house,” Singh said.
“My uncle and aunt will not be able to return to Ghaziabad during the lockdown period, but the children will be able to cook food. I had called them after I read in newspapers that the chief minister has directed police to send PRV teams in case of emergency requirement,” he said.
In another instance, a PRV team helped a resident in Vaishali’s Sector 2 buy utensils. “I shifted to Vaishali about a week ago and was eating out since then. After the lockdown was announced I went to a nearby departmental store, but they refused to sell me utensils. So, I dialled the police emergency number and PRV personnel arrived within 15-20 minutes. I told them the issue and they took me to the store and directed them to sell me utensils. I can now cook at home. There was no other option, as my family is in Patna,” said Manish Kumar.
Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police and nodal officer for PRV service in Ghaziabad, said that the PRVs also delivered ration items to residents, but they were not willing to pay up. “In 10-12 cases, our personnel had to pay from their own pocket. Residents refused to pay when the PRVs reached their houses to deliver eatables. From now on, we will be asking residents to pay the police for delivering them food items,” he said.
“We are also tying up with associations and industrial area bodies, who have assured that they can provide food packages for people who are stranded or have no money. This could include daily wagers, whose livelihoods have been hit,” he said.
Even before the national lockdown, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said that PRVs will be on alert to help residents. “We have about 3,000 four-wheelers and about 1500 two-wheelers which will be deployed to help people with difficult situations, including buying essential supplies. We will ensure that all PRV112 are deployed for helping people,” Adityanath had said.
Ghaziabad’s senior superintendent of police, Kalanidhi Naithani, said that PRVs are available for help and police is also trying to rope in more volunteers. “By Wednesday afternoon, our PRVs attended around 70 calls. We are prioritising calls made by senior citizens and women staying alone. For the next phase, we have also roped in civil defence volunteers for help,” he said.
