Police efforts on to save chowkies

MUMBAI: The police are preparing to salvage as many chowkies as possible before the commencement of demolition drive following a Bombay High Court order on Wednesday to file a compliance report on the illegal police posts in the city.
The police are planning to approach Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to regularise as many police chowkies as possible.

“We will regularise the chowkies which are approved by the BMC. Rest of the police chowkies will be shifted to suitable locations in the city,” joint commissioner of police (administration), Hemant Karkare told DNA. Another option which the police are exploring is shifting the chowkies to the premises of the police station they are located under.

According to Karkare, there are three types of police chowkies in the city — those sanctioned by the state government, those sanctioned by the director general of police and those constructed on the request of the mohallas (communities) across the city. “Only the chowkies constructed on the requests of various mohallas need to be regularised,” he said.

The state government on Wednesday told the court that only 119 of the 388 chowkies in the city had BMC sanction. This came in the wake of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Khar-resident IK Chhugani. The PIL had also alleged that a number of police chowkies were using electricity illegally. The affidavit in the court said that they will seek permission to use electricity in the chowkies.