Kharar cops under shaking pillars

  • | Monday | 17th September, 2018

The station's building needs only one strong spell of rain to collapse." The station's roof started leaking during heavy rainfall earlier in this month. The police station is in a dilapidated state, while DSP's office on way to becoming that for want of maintenance. It was inaugurated in 1910 by the-then deputy commissioner of Ambala, R Sykes, and it housed the Kharar civil hospital and two judicial courts for many years. MOHALI: Cops posted in the city police stations of Kharar and Derabassi are so much in terror of their crumbling buildings that they are scared of coming to work on rainy days.An official at the Kharar city police station said: "Send me into the field when it's pouring and I feel lucky.

MOHALI: Cops posted in the city police stations of Kharar and Derabassi are so much in terror of their crumbling buildings that they are scared of coming to work on rainy days.An official at the Kharar city police station said: "Send me into the field when it's pouring and I feel lucky. The station's building needs only one strong spell of rain to collapse." The building is more than 100 years old. It was inaugurated in 1910 by the-then deputy commissioner of Ambala, R Sykes, and it housed the Kharar civil hospital and two judicial courts for many years. The courts shifted to the Tehsil complex, while the police post stayed and, a few years after, was converted to a police station.Besides the city police station, the office of the Derabassi subdivision deputy superintendent of police (DSP) is run from the old buildings. The police station is in a dilapidated state, while DSP's office on way to becoming that for want of maintenance. The station's roof started leaking during heavy rainfall earlier in this month. A cop working in the building said: "After the rain, we started looking for polythene sheets to cover our important record and office furniture. "The roof starts leaking whenever it rains, and we have to move out along with the record."The Kharar police station also housed Shaheed Bhagat Singh in a cell during the freedom struggle and a memorial to the martyr exits to this day on the premises.During a visit to the Kharar city police station, a TOI team found tiles to be falling off the roof. The walls had holes and cracks the roof was still leaking. The structure's condition was pitiable. The Derabassi DSP's office, which also is in a 100-year-plus British colonial era building, also needs maintenance. In a few years, it'll be as unsafe as the police station, if not repaired. Wild grass grows up on its roof and TOI also spotted cracks in parts of the roof and the walls.The roof poses a threat not only to the police officials who works under it but also to the people who come in to seek help or report a crime.The Punjab government has spent crores of rupees on various police Sanjh Kendras in the state and it built two of these centres in Kharar but did not bother about the police station.Many years ago, the police department had written even to the local civic body to seek land for a new building, but nothing became of that proposal. Physical checking of the buildings was done a long time ago.Structural engineer Sushil Dogra said: "Buildings that are more than 100 years old need regular maintenance. A roof logged with water, thick with wild grass, and covered with vines is a threat to the building. The buildings of this quality have a life span of 50 years, normally, that too if maintained well."Punjab Police Housing Corporation superintending engineer (civil) Ranjodh Singh said: "We have applied for Rs-150-crore loan for the maintenance of police stations across Punjab and we are in the price negotiation stage. If all goes well, we will start the maintenance work of these police stations within a month.We are aware of the cost of delaying the repair further."

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