More police stations in the national capital, which were inaugurated with much fanfare as a measure to reduce crime levels before the start of Commonwealth Games last year, are facing prospects of being shut down for the lack of forces and infrastructure, sources said.
The police has already shut three of its recently set up police stations in the city — Paharganj east, Town Hall and Madhuvan, which were formed after bifurcation of the Paharganj, Kotwali and Mandawali police stations, respectively.
“Orders have been issued to shut down Madipur police station in west Delhi, which was carved out of Punjabi Bagh area,” Delhi police commissioner B.K. Gupta said.
The police sources revealed that the police station, which are housed in a single complex, are likely to be closed and a proposal in this regard is being mooted, “Having two police stations in a single building doesn’t necessarily impact the crime levels in the area. We were looking to hire new buildings for these stations but there is a dearth of infrastructure,” a senior police official said, wishing anonymity.
The police officials, however, said the number of cases being registered at these police stations was significantly low and the rate of crime had gone down after they were set up. “However, since the forces for the new police stations were drawn from their parent police stations, keeping these stations unified will prove more efficient,” the official said.
The Paharganj east police station, which was shut down last week, was carved out during the Commo-nwealth Games and was meant to serve tourists visiting the area.
But lack of infrastructure and staff crunch seem to have forced top officers of the central district to abandon the idea.
The notification to shut the police stations came on January 29.