When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) R Vhatkar said, “The distribution of the bikes across police stations has already happened. I will look into the matter if the bikes are still parked there (police ground).” NEARLY THREE months after the Mumbai Police obtained four-wheelers and two-wheelers to augment their street presence under the Nirbhaya funds, over 500 such vehicles are still lying unused at the police ground in Naigaon. With rains underway in the city, the two-wheelers are at the risk of rusting out unused in addition to occupying the police ground meant for sports practice of police officials.
Nirbhaya funds is a corpus announced by the central government and made available to police forces across the country to get resources that will help them tackle crimes against women.
Under the Nirbhaya funds, the city police had spent over Rs 30 crore to obtain the vehicles. The procurement included 220 Bolero SUVs, 35 Ertiga MUVs, 313 Pulsar bikes and 200 Activa bikes. The Mumbai Police got delivery of the vehicles around March-end following which they were kept at the Naigaon police ground in central Mumbai.
🚨 Limited Time Offer | Express Premium with ad-lite for just Rs 2/ day 👉🏽 Click here to subscribe 🚨
Best of Express Premium
While the four-wheelers have been sent to police stations across the city, the two wheelers are still lying unused at the Naigaon police ground. The Pulsar bikes were meant to be used by police stations for general patrolling, while the Activa bikes were meant to be used by woman officers attached to police stations across the city.
Sources said that in the past few months, there have also been attempts to steal parts of the bike. The department has now stationed police personnel to guard the bikes round-the-clock. A source said that bikes that are kept without any overhead cover have already faced the first few pre-monsoon showers. “If these bikes are not distributed in the next few weeks, they will start rusting which will be a massive waste of resources that could’ve been put to good use,” the source said.
An official said that apart from the bikes being at the risk of wear and tear, they are also occupying a major section of the police ground which could otherwise have been used by police personnel for sporting activities and training. Locals, too, have taken to social media to point out how the unused bikes have been occupying a chunk of the ground.
When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) R Vhatkar said, “The distribution of the bikes across police stations has already happened. I will look into the matter if the bikes are still parked there (police ground).”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
