As police grapple with shortage of drivers for their vehicles, residents complain of inordinate delays in arrival of help in emergencies
As police grapple with shortage of drivers for their vehicles, residents complain of inordinate delays in arrival of help in emergencies
Stuck in an emergency situation and need the police? Dial 100, but don't keep waiting for them to arrive; try other sources in the meantime. That's the advice a few Pune residents are giving these days, after learning the hard way that dialling the control room number 100 may not always mean prompt help in emergencies.
They alleged that calls to the helpline are answered, but help arrives almost 40 minutes to two hours later. MiD DAY decided to investigate, and found that there indeed have been instances where help arrived so late that it was useless. Take Sanjay Sonar's case. His neighbour, Sarika Pankaj Agarwal, a woman in her early 20's, set herself on fire on December 19. He called the control room to inform them at 3.30 pm, but the cops didn't arrive until two hours later. By then Agarwal was long dead in her flat at Guru Teg Bahadur society on Aundh Road.
Sonar, an IT professional, said, "First some constables arrived, but till senior officers arrived it was 7.00 pm."
Additional Commissioner (administration) Sanjeevkumar Singhal admitted there was a shortage of drivers. "The police force needs 450 drivers and we have 350 drivers in service. Sometimes the response time gets affected due to the shortage," he said. Singhal added that the police have recently started a Motor Vehicle Training School to train constables in driving.
(With inputs from Vivek Sabnis)
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