Police not game for mega event?

There are only 115 days left for the Commonwealth Games this October but the Capital is far from secure. The long ‘shopping list’ of the Delhi Police just proves how ill equipped they are to handle the upcoming event. Karan Choudhury reports.

There are only 115 days left for the Commonwealth Games this October but the Capital is far from secure. The long ‘shopping list’ of the Delhi Police just proves how ill equipped they are to handle the upcoming event. From securing all the borders and having them under CCTV surveillance to buying ancillary items like riot gear, the Delhi Police is still in the process of floating tenders and going through them before placing final orders.

Where is the equipment?

HT Image

The Delhi Police had an ambitious plan to ‘modernise’ the force specifically keeping in mind CWG-2010 and also its needs in future. One of the most ambitious plans was bringing the entire city under CCTV surveillance, which would sen

d live feed to the Police headquarters. Surveillance cameras were also supposed to be installed at the borders.

Only 15 border points, most of them on the Wazirabad border, are covered with CCTV cameras from the total of 47 border points to be covered. Also, only 14 market complexes in the city have CCTV cameras.

The police also had the plan to connect all city police stations with CCTV cameras. But with the C4i (Integrated Command, Control Coordination Center) still incomplete, integration is a distant dream.

Since the days of K.K. Paul, then Commissioner of Police, the force has been trying to introduce a fingerprinting analysis system, which would be integrated to all police stations in the Capital and make it easier for them to recognise criminals. But that plan has also taken a back seat.

And the list goes on

It was only last month that the Delhi Police floated a tender for of 2,996 bulletproof jackets and 430 bulletproof patkas.
“It is not that we are not prepared for the CW Games. These purchases will be made well before the Games and distributed among the force,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to media.