Proposal for civic police force gathers dust since 2013

BMC's plans to have its own police force to stop encroachment and act against illegal construction were announced in 2013, but have seen no momentum since owing to the lacklustre attitude of the ruling party at the BMC.

The proposal to set up a separate civic police force and police stations was prepared and submitted by the erstwhile additional municipal commissioner of BMC Manu Kumar Srivastav to help enforce civic laws.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who received the proposal, told DNA, "We had asked the BMC to pay for the force. But they refused to do so. The proposal has been going back and forth for the last several years."

BMC's idea for its own force was conceptualised keeping in mind the Government Railway Police (GRP). The railways have their own protection force but for penal actions, they depend on the GRP. Similarly, the BMC has its security staff, but for activities like demolition, removal of encroachment, etc, it depends on the local police.

Opposition leader in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said that the BMC had deposits worth Rs 60,000 crore in various banks. "If they have such huge funds, why they are not willing to bear the cost of the force," he questioned.

Senior BMC official said setting up the police force will not be possible without political support. "Many times we are unable to take action due to lack of security deployment. Whenever we write to the police seeking forces, they cite unavailability due bandobast duties for Ganesh festivals, Moharam etc," a BMC official said.