Mumbai: The police station that slows down life in Vasai-Virar

For years cops at the Tulinj police station have been dealing with the stinking nullah flowing underneath health issues and traffic jams that they say cause hindrance to their work They requested the MBVV police chief for relocation in 2021 following which the files reached Mantralaya However they have been stuck since returning to the civic bodyNot just the cops the commuters travelling between Vasai and Virar via Nalasopara East struggle tooTulinj police station is built on a nullah and a plot that had been marked for a garden PicsHanif PatelRajendra Kamble the then senior inspector at Tulinj police station wrote to the then Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar MBVV commissioner of police CP Sadanand Date on January 28 2021 for relocation Kamble is now the incharge of Virar police stationAlso Read MiraBhayandar MBVV cops on alert after Sambhajinagar violenceThe files moved to the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC and then to the Urban Development Department in MantralayaAs the area is close to the Nalasopara railway station there is a traffic jam especially during peak hoursldquoAfter the intervention of the Urban Development Department the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC identified an 8guntha plotrdquo said an officerHowever the files a copy of which is with midday have been gathering dust thanks to bureaucratic hurdles cops allegedMany cops including those who were deployed at the Tulinj police station in the past shared with midday the issues they faced The building is built on a drain and a garden plot said officersThe problemsldquoInitially it was a chowkie under the Nalasopara police station but after the population started to increase in the area it was converted into Tulinj police station on March 5 2015 We faced many health issues like allergies causing sneezing and coughing Then there was the mosquito menace Since the police station was constructed on a nullah there is always a stink It was really hard to work thererdquo said an officer requesting anonymityldquoThe population within the jurisdiction of Tulinj police station is around 25 lakhrdquo said another officerldquoThe situation becomes horrible during the monsoon due to waterlogging The water level goes up to 3 feet and takes days to recede Every time it rained heavily we had to move files computers etc to prevent damage I am sure the situation remains the same even todayrdquo said a cop who was once posted at Tulinj police stationldquoThe police station must be shifted as half of it is built on the nullah and the remaining half on a garden plot which was acquired illegallyrdquo the officer addedAn officer currently deployed there said ldquoBesides everything we have to face traffic jams during peak hours Because we are located close to the Nalasopara railway station there is haphazard parking of autorickshaws We struggle when we have to rush to a crime scene especially in the eveningsrdquoA source in the MBVV police headquarters told midday that former CP Date ldquotook personal interest to move the files and spoke to all the departments concerned to identify a fresh location but now everything is moving at a snailrsquos pacerdquoldquoThe VVCMC identified this plot as a vegetable market and promised that the police station would be built on the first floor But the construction work has not started yetrdquo he added ldquoOnce the existing building of Tulinj police station is demolished the traffic issue will be resolvedrdquo said a senior police officerRenovation work is currently underway at the existing police station and the civic body has spent around R10 lakh said an officer ldquoItrsquos of no use as the monsoon will cause damage again We want the relocation at the earliest but the files are stuck in red taperdquo the officer addedHistoryThe existing building had been illegally constructed around four decades ago and was used as a hideout by the goons of an influential criminal said a businessperson in Nalasopara ldquoThey stored their guns in the building and no one dared say a wordrdquo he addedldquoThe police woke up only after a murder in Nalasopara around three decades ago They threw the goons out and converted the building into a police chowkierdquo a source saidZonal Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP Pournima ChouguleShringi who recently took charge said ldquoWe are in touch with the municipal corporation for allocation of a plot At present we have been given the 8guntha plot but the civic officials have also planned to construct a fruit marketrdquoldquoFor the smooth functioning of a police station we need a dedicated plot which can be further handed over to the housing department for construction of required numbers of rooms for female cops detection room police lockup cabin of senior inspector etc Once everything is clear a building will be constructed for Tulinj police stationrdquo she saidA senior civic official told midday ldquoDuring our discussion with the senior police officer we had told them that the 8guntha plot is dedicated for a fruit market But if they need it for a police station they need to get the reservation of the plot changed with the intervention of the Urban Development Department When that is done the public works department PWD can construct a building for the police departmentrdquoldquoThis discussion was taken more than a year ago I will have to check the documents for the current statusrdquo the official added requesting anonymity2015When Tulinj police station was formed