In Mumbai, when the usual channels fail — when a complaint is ignored, when a neighbour’s dispute turns ugly, when a builder encroaches on common land — there is one person people reach for: the DCP. The Deputy Commissioner of Police is the officer most Mumbaikars know by name, the one building societies petition, the one local politicians call, the one whose office becomes the last resort before a problem becomes a crisis.
For roughly 50 lakh of those Mumbaikars, that name and that phone number is about to change.
While the decision to restructure the city’s policing zones — with the addition of two new zones and four new police stations — was announced late last year, the full picture of how the policing map has been redrawn is only now becoming clear. The details reveal a significant reshuffling of which senior officer is responsible for which part of the city, with residents of areas such as Ghatkopar, Tilak Nagar, Versova and Malad set to wake up to a new DCP.
For most Mumbaikars, the daily texture of policing, the constable on the beat, the familiar station house, will not change overnight. But for the roughly 50 lakh residents whose stations are moving zones, there is a significant shift: a new DCP to approach, new protocols to navigate, a new senior officer to build a relationship with.
To understand the scale: a typical Mumbai police station has nearly three to five lakh people under its jurisdiction. Ghatkopar police station alone covers 13 lakh residents. Tilak Nagar covers six lakh. Versova three lakh. Malad 4.5 lakh. All of them will now have a new address for their DCP.
The reshuffle will also alter the character of some of the city’s most high-profile policing zones. Zone 9 — a much sought-after posting stretching from Bandra to Andheri, home to several Bollywood stars particularly in the Oshiwara–Versova belt — will lose that stretch to the newly formed Zone 12. The Oshiwara–Versova corridor, which previously fell under the West region, will now come under the North region.
The overhaul, approved by the state Home Department late last year, takes the total number of policing zones from 13 to 15 and increases the number of police stations to 97.
For most Mumbaikars, the daily texture of policing, the constable on the beat, the familiar station house, will not change overnight. But for the roughly 50 lakh residents whose stations are moving zones, there is a significant shift: a new DCP to approach, new protocols to navigate, a new senior officer to build a relationship with.
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Two new zones carved out
Mumbai currently has 13 policing zones — Zones 1 through 12 plus the Port Zone — spread across five regions: South, Central, East, West and North. The restructuring inserts two entirely new zones, one in eastern and one in northern region, into this map, triggering a renumbering of several existing zones in a ripple effect.
In the eastern suburbs, the new zone (called Zone 7) will bring together stations across the Ghatkopar–Tilak Nagar belt: Chunabhatti, Nehru Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Pant Nagar, Ghatkopar and Vinoba Bhave Nagar, along with a newly created police station at Asalpha. These stations have been drawn from three neighbouring zones, each giving up part of its jurisdiction to form the new command.
In the north, the new zone (called Zone 12) consolidates stations across the Andheri–Goregaon–Malad corridor: Versova, Oshiwara, Amboli, Goregaon, Bangurnagar and Malad, joined by a new coastal police station at Marve. Officials say the regrouping is aimed at creating more balanced jurisdictions and reducing the number of stations each DCP must supervise.
Four new police stations
Alongside the zone restructuring, four new police stations are being created to reduce the size of existing, overstretched jurisdictions in densely populated areas: Maharashtra Nagar, carved from areas under Bhandup and Parksite stations in the eastern suburbs; Golibar, formed by splitting the Vakola and Nirmal Nagar jurisdictions in the western suburbs; Asalpha, created from areas currently under Ghatkopar and Saki Naka stations; and Marve, carved from the large Malwani jurisdiction along the northern coastal belt.
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As part of the reorganisation, the Airport police station will also be dissolved, with its jurisdiction divided between the Vile Parle and Sahar stations.
A city that grew faster than its police map
The proposal was submitted last October by Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti and approved by the Home Department headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The case was straightforward: Mumbai’s population has crossed 15 million, its suburbs have expanded rapidly, and the policing map had not kept pace. Some DCPs were overseeing ten or more stations across vast stretches of the city, an administrative stretch that, officials argue, inevitably dilutes supervision and slows response.
“The restructuring is aimed at reducing the administrative burden on existing zones, improving law and order monitoring and ensuring faster policing responses,” a senior IPS officer said. “It will allow DCPs to supervise fewer police stations and coordinate more effectively with field units.”
The two new zones will also create two additional DCP posts and three new Assistant Commissioner of Police divisions — senior officers with tighter, more focused jurisdictions rather than the sprawling ones that the city’s growth had made unmanageable.
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Staffing and expenditure
The government has sanctioned 1,448 posts across various ranks for the four new police stations. Each station will be staffed with five police inspectors, six assistant police inspectors, 23 sub-inspectors, 20 assistant sub-inspectors, 87 head constables and 217 constables. A recurring annual expenditure of Rs 124.13 crore and a one-time non-recurring expenditure of Rs 7.39 crore have been approved.
For most Mumbaikars, the daily texture of policing, the constable on the beat, the familiar station house, will not change overnight. But for the roughly 50 lakh residents whose stations are moving zones, there is a significant shift: a new DCP to approach, new protocols to navigate, a new senior officer to build a relationship with.
