Housing still remains a bane for majority of the city police’s constabulary, with most living in rundown government quarters across various locations in Mumbai. Unlike other police colonies in the suburbs, the ones in central and south Mumbai are abysmal British-era structures built way back between 1890 and 1910.
There are 25-odd Police Lines in the city with the ones in central and southern Mumbai being the famous Bombay Development Department (BDD) chawls. The chawls, with around 180 to 200 square feet single room tenements, are made of stone and boulders, making them stronger than today’s buildings. However, the structures are susceptible to seepage and immune to alteration and are often jokingly called as “build and forget” by its residents.
Ajit Chopade, a police Naik attached with the traffic police headquarters at Worli, said, “Most pillars have developed deep cracks and small pieces of slabs keep falling, but the overall structure still remains strong. Our biggest problem is we can’t make structural changes since the walls are too thick to drill nails.” Mr Chopade lives with his family at the Mahim Police Lines close to Mahim police station. His father retired as an assistant sub-inspector and the family had been living in the same accommodation for the past 30 years.
Another resident, son of a head constable attached with a police station in the western suburbs said, “We have lost several drill sticks while trying to make holes in the walls. So thick are the walls that only the paint comes off while drilling, but we can’t penetrate the surface. Most people complain about living in dilapidated structures. Our problem is exactly the opposite. It’s like living in a dangerously strong building,” he said. The Police Line has 131 tenements each around 10x10 feet split in two wings. Right next to the building is an officers’ quarter for the ranks of ACP and DCP with 2 BHK flats.
Benny Fernandes, whose husband is posted with the police band said that they have been requesting the government to transfer the tenements in their name so that they can carry out repairs. “Window panes are broken, the floor is a swimming pool during monsoon and the plaster keeps falling off,” she said. Ms Fernandes lives at the Naigaon police colony.
Suchita Kulkarni, the wife of another policeman said, “They deduct `4,500 rent from our husbands’ salaries, but the amount is not collected with the public works department (PWD).” The women were a part of the 1,000-strong rally from the Police Patni Sabha, who led a protest to the PWD office with their demands on Monday.
Joint CP (admin) Hemant Nagrale said that he wouldn’t be able to comment on the protest since he wasn’t aware of the women’s demands.