Officers are forced to hold back their patrolling duties because of a fixed quota of petrol and diesel
Officers are forced to hold back their patrolling duties because of a fixed quota of petrol and diesel
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The fuel crunch is not new with ground level officers such as constables, head constables and assistant sub-inspectors. But with increasing crime there is no respite, only more pressure.
Each police station has minimum of one Hoysala (police patrol jeep) and two Cheeta (motorcycle borne) vehicles.
One of the police officer on night rounds said, "We are facing lots of problems due to lack of fuel. We are allotted 300 litres of diesel to our Hoysala vehicles per month, which is not sufficient and it gets over in 20-25 days.
For the rest one week, we have to depend onu00a0 other means. The quota for Cheetas per month is
25 litres.
But if the jurisdiction area is larger, more is provided." Every day the Hoysalas run around 100u00a0 to 120 kms and Cheetas not less than 60 kms.
For the traffic police two-wheelers (Pulsars) a litre a day is provided, and it is not sufficient at all, say the users.
The same vehicles are used for patrolling at night as well. At night, the vehicles, be it a Hoysala or Cheeta, are used more than the day time.
Another Hoysala driver said, "We are supposed to keep patrolling to maintain law and order in our limits round the clock.
Things go wrong mostly during the night. The fuel given by the department can't be used for a whole month. We start feeling the shortage in the last month."
Constables can't be expected to patrol the area because of the lack of fuel. If they use their personal vehicles, they have to shell out money from their own pockets.
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| City cops are forced to curtail their patrol rounds because they fear they might run out of fuel in an emergency, thanks to a fixed quota of petrol and diesel. |
A constable said, "During the last week we use dour own money, so that we can do our duty. But if we keep doing that, we will need to spend money on the maintenance as well, so to avoid that we use the department vehicle."
Night patrolling can be dangerous. There are so many instances where the police were attacked during the night. Recently, CR Lakshmikanthraj, a sub inspector was stabbed when he tried to disperse a mob near a bar at Pipeline Road in Magadi police station limits.
DCP (PRO) V Ramaiah said, "Earlier there was a committee which fixed the quantity of fuel to be provided to Hoysala and Cheeta vehicles.
For a police station there will be one Hoysala and 7-8 Cheeta vehicles. The fuel given to these vehicles is more than sufficient.
They have to use the vehicles very carefully. If they need extra fuel, they can take the permission from the concerned DCP."
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