Barricades on NH? Report Via Helpline
He also announced a series of measures for the police force, including the upgrade of around 300 police stations into model stations. Once the matter is resolved, he said, appointment letters would be issued to 16,000 recruits — 12,000 for the state police and 4,000 for Kolkata Police. He said 450 new police patrol vehicles and 450 motorcycles would be flagged off at Brigade Parade Ground on Mahalaya, along with the launch of the integrated 112 emergency response helpline. He said police response in rural areas currently takes 30-60 minutes, while Kolkata’s response time is around 15-20 minutes, and attributed the delays to shortages of vehicles, personnel and drivers. He also said the Narcotics Department had been made more proactive and announced that more than 2 lakh bottles of seized Phensedyl would be destroyed at an event scheduled on Sept 23. He also said around 4,000 police vehicles currently did not have insurance and some old vehicles had crossed the 15-year mark.
Traffic checkposts at several locations need to be strengthened and additional traffic personnel deployed, according to him. He said gyms and sports grounds would be created at police stations wherever adequate space was available. On police recruitment, Adhikari said the legal dispute involving recruitment was awaiting a court verdict.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Traffic Control Room of the West Bengal Police Traffic Headquarters at Araksha Bhawan in Salt Lake, Adhikari attributed traffic congestion at several stretches to the condition of service roads and National Highway stretches, prolonged rain and ongoing infrastructure work. Where deploying more traffic personnel is not possible, automated traffic systems will be put in place. “The Enforcement, Traffic, Anti-Corruption, Coastal Police and Intelligence Branch had been neglected under the previous regime. We are now working to address the deficiencies,” he added.