How then will cops respond quickly in case of another 26/11, asks J Dey
How then will cops respond quickly in case of another 26/11, asks J Dey
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But that's impossible, considering more than half of the police force's 3,887 vehicles are in such a bad shape that they should be scrapped, senior officials of the police's Motor Transport (MT) department told MiD DAY.
Spares cost a lot
Of the Rs 200 crore sanctioned by the government to modernise the state police after last year's terror attacks, no funds have been allocated to buy new vehicles.
"About 219 Toyota Qualis inducted in 2002 have become a cause of concern for us," said an MT official. "The government pays huge amounts to procure spares. It's better if that money is used to buy new vehicles."
Officials say that on an average around 150 vehicles are at the MT department every day undergoing repairs.
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Be-car: Officials say that on an average around 150 vehicles undergo repairs at the Motor Transport department every day. |
The 420 Mahindra Boleros ordered in 2004 and 997 jeeps are also ageing. MT officials know that a vehicle isn't working well when it comes back for repair in 15 days.
The problem is compounded by an acute shortage of maintenance staff at MT workshops at Nagpada, Tardeo, Ghatkopar and Marol.
The vacancies of ACPs (3), inspectors (2), sub-inspectors (22) and drivers (25) haven't been filled up for a few years.
Can't be scrapped
At the MT headquarters in Nagpada, over 80 vehicles are gathering dust. Most of them have been there for weeks. A senior MT officer said that this has made it difficult for policemen to carry out their routine duties.
Officials informed that even though the vehicles aren't fit to be driven, a government resolution forbids scrapping or auctioning of cars that were purchase less than 10 years ago.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (MT) Kishore Joshi refused to comment on the state of the defective vehicles.
Did you know?
According to Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Rakesh Maria, the police response time u00a0during 26/11 was between three u00a0to seven minutes.
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