The entrance to Bidhannagar East police station. Pictures by Mayukh Sengupta

A view of a section of the police station where broken window panes have been stuffed with paper, gunny bags and plastic sheets

Bidhannagar East police station is all set to be rebuilt. The existing complex, next to Sarat Abasan, will be razed to the ground and a new five-storeyed complex will come up in its place. And while work is on, the police station will be shifted to Karunamoyee.

Run-down state

Built in the 80s, the existing structure is too ramshackle to be taken for a police station. Dogs chase each other around the compound and goats feast on patches of grass. You walk in and see dusty chairs lined up against a wall and a shabby row of rooms with dirty sheets of tarpaulin to cover broken window panes.

Only a signboard at the gate, and a faded writing on one of the walls, proudly proclaim it to be Salt Lake’s East Police Station. This thana has jurisdiction over 21 blocks, namely AG, BG, CG, DG, AH, BH, AJ, BJ, CJ, DJ, AK, BK, CK, DK, AL, BL, CL, DL, EE, ED (Karunamoyee) and Sarat Abasan, across a total area of 2.62sq. km.

The interiors too are crying for repairs. Cracks line the ceiling and windows are boarded up with cardboard to prevent the oncoming winter chill from disturbing officers. Those in the know joke that when it rains the officers file away paperwork and huddle under umbrellas.

“This police station is more an eyesore than a public office. Often people can’t find it and mistake it for an illegal encroachment due to its current state,” said a resident on condition of anonymity.

New look

The state government has now sanctioned funds to rebuild the thana. “The old building will be demolished and a five-storeyed building will come up,” said Debashsis Dhar, additional deputy commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. And at a cost of Rs 10 crore, it will have all the bells and whistles one would expect from a structure built at such a cost.

Construction should start as soon as the office is shifted out temporarily to Karunamoyee Market Complex. “It will be located on one of the upper floors,” Dhar added. It is not known when construction would be completed.

Residents of Karunamoyee are looking forward to the police station shifting to their complex. “There has been an increase in petty thefts in the locality so I am hopeful that the presence of a police station inside the complex will deter these elements,” said Mita Ghosh, an E Block resident.

The police officers posted at east thana are happy and say it will take them a month’s time to move into their temporary address. “The old complex was crumbling apart. It’s high time they renovate it,” a policeman said.

 

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