Maha home dept gets 5 proposals for police commissionerates

The Home department of Maharashtra has received proposals from five cities to have a commissionerate system of policing there, a senior official said today.

The proposals come a few days after the state cabinet, on April 10, approved a police commissionerate for Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial township near Pune, he said.

"Proposals for a police commissionerate at Mira-Bhayander, Ahmednagar, Malegaon, Kolhapur and Akola have come to the Home department from the office of the Director-General of Police and respective Superintendents of Police," the official informed.

The proposals, once vetted by the Home department, is then sent to the Finance ministry to provide for funds required to set up policing infrastructure, like equipment and vehicles, and create new posts, he said.

He added that a decision on a police commissionerate at Mira-Bhayander would be taken "soon".

Mira-Bhayander, on the northern outskirts of Mumbai, is currently under the jurisdiction of Thane rural police.

He said that a commissionerate was approved for Pimrpi-Chinchwad as it was an area with a dense population, had two industrial clusters in Talegaon and Chakan and pilgrim centres in Dehu-Alandi.

"The new commissionerate at Pimpri-Chinchhwad will see the creation of over 2,500 new police posts. We will require Rs 137 crore to pay the salaries of the commissionerate's personnel," the official said.