Mumbai residents move Bombay high court to protest police station in their complex

Most Mumbaikars would feel uneasy on spotting policemen in their housing society. But what if the cops decide to turn one of the buildings in your complex into a police station?

The idea has sent the residents of Devratna Nagar Cooperative Housing Federation in Chunabhatti knocking on the doors of the Bombay high court as they fear loss of peace and safety.

The federation, which comprises 12 buildings, has filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court to get the plan stalled. “There is a vacant excise office nearby. That is also government land and more suitable for a police station than a residential complex,” said a resident.

In 2002, five out of these 12 buildings of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) were bought by the police commissioner to accommodate police officials posted at different ranks in surrounding police stations.

But about three months ago, the force turned on its own and asked police families occupying flats in the first three floors of the building facing the main road to vacate in a month.

The reason was that the rising crime graph in Nehru Nagar had made the police feel the need of a separate police station.

“They can’t do what they want just because they are policemen. We have found out that they have neither informed Mhada nor taken permission from the BMC to change the user status. This is anarchy,” said another resident.

“While some of the policemen approached the Maharashtra administrative tribunal, and four of them were permitted to relocate to the neighbouring building, many had to shift out to as far as Thane,” informed one of the members of society’s federation.

According to residents, the building stands vacated for the planned police station and senior officers are seen deciding the layout, which includes a new entry and exit for the police station.

“The policemen living here have a maintenance bill of over Rs7 lakh pending to the society. They don’t even pay the parking charges. When a new police station comes up here, they will stack all the stolen vehicles in our campus,” said a resident.

The women of the complex have their own set of discomforts. “We can’t even imagine police vans full of criminals moving in and out from here day and night. The windows of the three-storey police station will be directly facing our bedroom and kitchen,” said a housewife.

When contacted, police commissioner Sanjeev Dayal said that he is yet to see the writ petition. “It won’t be right to comment until I have read it. We will go through the details in the petition and file a corresponding reply in the court,” he said.

The case is due to be heard on January 10.