City police look to reconstitute, upgrade, mohalla committees soon

The police have been instructed to get in touch with the people in their jurisdictions and select those people for mohalla committees who have a good standing in their respective communities and can exercise control over their fellow citizens in times of crisis.

Mohalla committees are citizen bodies formed at local area level, with police stations acting as facilitators, and were conceived with the purpose of assisting the police in maintenance of law and order, prevention of crime and for acting as eyes and ears and passing on relevant information pertaining to communal, social, law & order related issues to the local police. The mohalla committees are supposed to meet at regular intervals to discuss issues and assume special importance during festivals.

“We will be announcing dates and venues of mohalla committee meetings before hand, so that anyone wishing to attend and raise a point can do so freely,” Maria added.

Meanwhile, in light of the Lalbaug Parel unrest, which was sparked off by an incident of rash driving, the police have decided to put the onus of responsible driving on the organisers of festivals. “We will be putting special focus on rash driving and flouting of traffic rules during festivals. We are planning to make it binding on the organisers to ensure that no untoward incidents occur during festivals,” Maria said.