There has been a significant increase in the volume of VIP movements in the city almost double compared to the average in the past three months. Some of the reasons for this include the upcoming elections and the fact that Pune is now home to a former President and governors of two other states. Police officers said movement clocking of a VIP begins with his/her arrival in the city at the airport or by road,for which the police have to provide bandobast and often senior police officers have to be present. When the arrival is by road,the pilot car and escort vehicles have to wait for the handover from the adjacent police jurisdiction. As the VIP in question further attends a number of programmes in the city,which police say is seldom less than three,police strength is provided from the headquarters and the police station under the jurisdiction of which the function is taking place. A senior police officer with the traffic control branch said,If a VIP attends a function at a public place,which is almost always the case,at least 100 police personnel and five officers are required for the bandobast. If a VIP attends three functions in the jurisdiction of three police stations,at least 300 personnel have to be diverted to the bandobast. And,at the end the bandobast again needs to be deployed for the departure at the airport or by road. A senior police inspector said,The VIP movement is a major issue when there are important function halls,guest houses or airport in your jurisdiction. Much of the police force is busy in bandobast duties half the time. On weekends,when ministers from state cabinet come to Pune,there is a major staff crunch for other duties. Another officer said,Elections are approaching and it is reflecting in the frequent visits of the VIPs. We have observed that a quarter of the state cabinet comes to Pune at least once a week. Senior leaders,including the chief minister,deputy chief minister and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar have started frequenting the city. The frequency has become twice the average of the earlier three months. In July,Pune saw over 200 VIP visits,which is almost double the average number before May. In the last week of May,former President Pratibha Patil moved to Pune. In case of her movements,bandobast needs to be provided whenever she leaves her home. The Maharashtra governor has visited the city on several occasions in the recent past. Pune was already home to Bihar governor D Y Patil and now,Shrinivas Patil,Sikkim governor,has been added to the list. Vishwas Pandhare,DCP (traffic) said,There has been a rise in the VIP movement in the city in recent months. We try our best to ensure that regular traffic is least affected. Police also said this had caused a major issue in terms of basic city security,as on several occasions they had to divert strength from the anti-chain snatching bandobast,which had recently emerged as one of the most frequent crimes being committed in the city.
