Mumbai: Dilapidated roadside cop tents to go

A cop tent at Carter Road currently being used to park bikes. Pic/Sameer Markande

Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey has ordered for the removal of all the white pagodas or cop tents which are dilapidated or in bad condition or are obstructing traffic or pedestrian movement, with immediate effect. The decision has drawn a tepid response from the force as these tents, if maintained or repaired, could have been the much-needed resting place for cops amid the rising heat. mid-day had recently reported that around 75 per cent of these tents are damaged.

The order for removal of these tents comes as the police force does not have provision to maintain the tents.

A tent in Mahim blocks the road

NGO Reliance Foundation had donated around 100 white pagodas to Mumbai Police in 2021. The idea behind the pagodas was to give temporary relief to cops on nakabandi duty. But due to lack of maintenance, almost all the tents are in a sorry state and cops have abandoned them.

A month ago, mid-day had done a reality check and found that the pagodas, abandoned by cops, were being used by anti-social elements, or being used as storage for construction material or parking spots. Following this, Mumbai Police's top brass expressed displeasure and had directed the local police to look into it.

An empty liquor bottle in one of the tents. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

However, as the damaged pagodas continued to take up space, obstructing flow of traffic, CP Pandey on Monday issued the order. The message from CP's office read, "CP sir has instructed us to remove (white) pagodas immediately. Particularly those tents which are obstructing traffic, pedestrian paths or footpaths and those that are damaged, filthy and are in bad conditions should be removed today itself."

Reacting to the move, a cop from central Mumbai said, "It is true that the tents are in a bad state, but the CP could have made provisions to repair or maintain these, especially as summer has just started and the mercury is touching 40 degrees. These installations could have been our saviour. The decision is not only strange but also discouraging."

CP Pandey remained unavailable for comment.

A woman constable from western Mumbai, talking about tents that had partitions, said, "Earlier it was of great use. We used it to change clothes, keep our stuff. But due to lack of maintenance, its walls collapsed and now it has been abandoned. Senior cops could have maintained it or asked for funds for the same." She added, "Now that these are giving the city roads a ugly look, we have been ordered to remove them. This is unfortunate."

75
Percentage of tents that are now dilapidated