Cops vs MLAs at Worli

Now, the state Home Department wants the occupants to clear out and has written to the Police Department, demanding that the barracks be vacated.

Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, who holds the Home portfolio, issued an order to this effect last month. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and political advisor to the prime minister, Pramod Mahajan, is also a member of the housing societies.

Joint Commissioner of Police Law and Order, Dr P S Pasricha, who also holdsadditional charge of administration, told Express Newsline: 8220;We shall have to vacate the premises. Orders to this effect will be issued soon.8221;

The police, on the other hand refuse, as alternative accommodation has not been provided, with Joint Commissioner of Police Administration T K Chaudhary recently writing to the societies, asking that the plot be handed over to the police. Failing this, he says, alternative accommodation must be provided in buildings proposed to be constructed at the site.

The private societies, Shubhada and Sukhada, 65 and 65-A, had purchased the plot from the government in January 1996. However, with ownership still in dispute, the Bombay High Court settled the matter asking the government to relinquish the plots with a combined area of 12,104 sq mt to the two housing societies.

In his letter, Chaudhary says the police have hoisted their flag outside the barracks, which represents 8220;extreme honour for the khaki-clad force and they also use the premises for paradesat regular intervals. Part of the barracks is also used as a godown to store some important machinery.8221;

His letter discusses at length the problem of housing for police personnel in Mumbai. He says the dhobis in the barracks were offered alternative accommodation but they refused, saying it was much too inconvenient.

Pointing out that the number of police personnel has increased manifold over the years, he says accommodation has remained static.

According to tradition, each police station in the city used to be given special facilities to accommodate its staff behind the station itself. However, with a threefold increase in personnel attached to each police station, the housing crunch has begun to hurt.

The responsibility of providing personnel with accommodation rests with the Police Housing Corporation, but it has tried in vain to help. The corporation encourages personnel to form small societies so that they can purchase land on their own and build houses for themselves. However, this has helpedonly to a limited extent. The recent order on the Worli barracks sounds ominous enough but there is still no word on whether the dhobis will be relocated.