Navigation

Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: May 16: In the wake of recent crime reports in the city, Vashi2panvel.Com correspondent, Umesh Malviya interviewed Navi Mumbai police Commissioner Vijay Kamble who talks about crime control, personnel satisfaction, staff crunch and more… Excerpts of the interview:

V2P: What are your plans for fighting against increasing crimes in Navi Mumbai?

Recently for the last one-month or so we have come across more instances of robbery. We suspect gang-involvement in this connection. Actually, it’s a vicious circle; Criminals are put in jail, they come out on bail, and again they commit the same crime. Meanwhile, we are taking certain prevention steps like organizing meetings with shop owners, people who carry heavy cash etc. so that they also take certain precautions.

V2P: There are some parks here where people go for a respite. It has been observed that several antisocial activities take place there. Is something being done?

Yes, though it us not frequent but some stray incidences occur when these antisocial elements are caught there. We have started regular patrolling there, specially in morning and evening hours, booked some culprits also.

V2P: What are you doing for the illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Navi Mumbai?

We are doing our best to identify them. However, it is very difficult to distinguish them from our ordinary Indians for the simple reason that their features, skin type and colour, language, names etc. are quite similar to our own people. At the same time they easily mix up with the local public, get ration cards, telephones, and electricity connections, buy vehicles etc. It is a tough and time-consuming process to identify them, but our efforts are on in this direction.

V2P: You had said in your interviews to other newspapers about shortage of Police force in Navi Mumbai. What have you done to take up this issue?

In fact, for last 4-5 years this city is growing rapidly, especially Khargar, Sanpada, Koparkhairne and some areas of Airoli, Ghansoli & New Panvel are fast developing nodes. Also population in these areas are increasing rapidly. We need more 500 to 600 extra police personnel. We are striving for more people and soon the results would be visible. We plan to add personnel in our traffic department too. And now the Government of India has sanctioned two more coastal police stations for the security of our coastal lines.

V2P: What steps is the Navi Mumbai Police department taking to de-stress the officials as they work in highly stressful environment?

Policemen work in highly strenuous working conditions. They have to work day and night, in rains or sun. In addition to this they bear long commuting hours. Furthermore, they don’t know when will they be relieved. Thus sometimes they don’t go home and prefer to stay near work place only. This affects their physical and mental health. There is no doubt that due to this their families also suffer. To solve this problem, increasing the manpower is the best solution. Rationalizing their duties and duty hours is another step. As far as possible we give them holiday and leave as and when they require, post them near place of residence, and enforce job rotation to avoid exposure to strenuous atmosphere. We also conduct yoga and diet awareness classes for them. I am happy that our people have become more health conscious. Few of our own police constables are conducting these classes in the evening, which are also attended by their family members. We are also organizing yearly cultural and sports events to recharge them.

V2P: The need for a police station at Khargar is being felt since long. Are any steps being taken in this regard?

We have also thought in this direction. At present we are planning to give some extra manpower to Kalamboli Police that will cover Khargar also.

V2P: What are your plans to ensure that incidences like Ghansoli recent riots are not repeated?

Please note that for most of the law & order situations the origin and solutions are not in the hands of Police. For many problems like clashes amongst different groups or communities, protest against government policies, civic problems etc are the causes and solutions are beyond our reach. We have to see that the demands of the public in general are taken into consideration and are vented out through proper channels in a democratic and lawful manner. If they resort to violence, we are bound to take actions.