Lack of personnel hinders effective policing in Zirakpur

Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, November 24

Poor police-public ratio has adversely affected the policing in the village-turned-town Zirakpur. It has forced the residents to live in an unsecure atmosphere for the past over a decade.

There is one policeman for 1,500 residents in Zirakpur, which is against the standard guidelines of the police-public ratio.

The sub-division has a less number of women police force and the local Police Administration has to demand women police force from Mohali in case of any urgency.

According to sources, the estimated population of the Zirakpur Municipal Council is 1,50,000. However, police records show that 103 police personnel are only deployed here.

With a progressive growth in the population and thousands of housings societies coming up here, the crime graph has also touched new heights.

“In the absence of any police verification of house/flat owners and their tenants, a majority of the housing societies have become safe hideouts for criminals and anti-social elements,” said Jaswant Singh of Baltana.

“Many houses and flats are also being used by various flesh trade operators and sex workers (prostitutes) who are either operating from their own premises or from the nearby towns and cities such as Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, Patiala, Ambala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar,” said Parminder Singh, a resident of Dera Bassi.

A random survey by The Tribune team revealed that scores of police personnel are overworked and are under stress. Odd, long and unscheduled duty hours have further added to their woes.

Pressures from their seniors and long stay, that too away from their families, also aggravate their problems.

“Shortage of staff is one of the major causes of the increasing level of stress among policemen as the government has failed to maintain proper police-public ratio,” a senior police official said.

Contrary to tall claims of the Punjab Police of having taken the yoga route to overcome stress, fatigue and obesity among policemen, noting has been done at the grass-roots level.

Mohali SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti admitted that the shortage of staff has affected the policing in the Zirakpur area. The SSP also said the population was rising by leaps and bounds, while the police strength remained same as it was almost five years ago.