Five city police stations in poor shape may be shut

The Mumbai police may be forced to shut five police stations in the city which are in poor shape either because of space crunch or an inconvenient location, police commissioner Sanjiv Dayal said on Saturday.

The Mumbai police may be forced to shut five police stations in the city which are in poor shape either because of space crunch or an inconvenient location, police commissioner Sanjiv Dayal said on Saturday.

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Dayal said he may recommend to the government the closure of the Khar, Jogeshwari, Shahu Nagar (Dharavi), Vinoba Bhave Nagar (Kurla West) and Parkside (Vikhroli) police stations.

The Khar police station does not have adequate space as it stands on a spot where a small pre-primary school earlier existed, and the Jogeshwari police station has been built atop an open drain.

“During the rains, the Jogeshwari police station is full of muck. If our officials work in unhealthy conditions, it will affect their performance. How long can they face such ill-treatment?” an irked Dayal asked.

“If the state government or society – the people we serve – aren’t able to provide us decent space, we have no option but to ask the government to shut these police stations,” he said.

An officer from Khar police station said staff from three police outposts in the area, which were demolished by the civic body, work from the station premises, and there isn’t enough room to maintain documents and files.