M A I N   N E W S

A Tribune Special
Mera Gaon Mera Gurgaon I
Home alone in a faceless city
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, October 11
Haryana’s show-window to the world runs by its own rules and every man is a law unto himself. At least that’s what the faceless police in Gurgaon would have you believe. And, if security is your main concern while selecting a home, Gurgaon is certainly not the place to be.

There are 25 police stations for a population of 25 lakh plus. There are just over 3,000 men in the force of whom 2,700 are field constables. The city has a police-public ratio of 1:1000

To top it all, most of these men in khaki are chronically “absent”, given the large number of VIP visits to the city. Overworked with frequent route duties and yet without substantial work, the cops are certainly there, but only in the service of the government top brass.

Residents of Sun City have complained to the police about armed men attacking their guards on two consecutive nights and a woman was allegedly gangraped in Sushant Lok, but this has not been enough to move the police.

The public, it seems, will have to cool its heels and wait for the police department to achieve its target of a police-public ratio of 1:300 to get any help from this quarter.

If busy intersections and haphazardly parked vehicles along narrow roadsides and in parking areas are being remote-controlled by cops absent for the better part of the day, rising thefts, increasing snatchings and accidents are now an everyday affair in Gurgaon.

“The police is nowhere to be seen.The other day a resident had to face the wrath of encroachers for having their dwellings removed. The police failed to respond and reacted only when their chief was told. They often reach at least two hours late for any theft reported,” maintains Dharam Sagar, president of the Residents Welfare Association of HUDA sectors.

With road repairs in progress and traffic bundled on one side of the road, crossing a five-minute stretch has become a painful 20-30 minute drive.

“My bother frequents Delhi in connection with his work and usually takes a bus to travel. What used to take about an hour now takes double the time. There’s absolutely no traffic management and little guidance available for a stranger in the city,” rues New Palam Vihar resident Pradeep Yadav.

Maintaining that Gurgaon requires 9,000 personnel, Commissioner of Police Mohinder Lal admits there are various uncovered pockets like Rajiv Chowk.

“Daytime is a lean period and policemen and PCRs are on duty at night,” he explained when asked about the “absent” cops.

However, this is one cover-up the police will miserably fail in. Because for every cop vouching for the citizens’ safety, there are 2,500 voices of dissent in the city.