Kerala   

Guarding the emerging city Law & order

With the city poised to take a giant leap towards being a hi-tech city, the law enforcers and authorities have started preparing for issues that come along with it. Indications of this are available at the Info Park, where high profile information technology (IT) companies have already started operations.

“This population, which is growing by the day, is a highly vulnerable group. Hence the whole perception needs to be changed,” said A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, District Collector. He said that concerns of law and order had been mentioned during initial discussions on establishing the Smart City.

Till now, there had been informal sounding of more visible policing in the area. At present, the area is under the jurisdiction of the Thrikakkara police station.

“We are working on the lines of having a hi-tech police station inside the Smart City premises. A proposal is being readied and will be presented to the State Government soon,” said Manoj Abraham, City Police Commissioner.

That the IT area is a bit removed from the main city centre gives the impression that policing will not be effective there. Right now, isolated incidents of attempts to break the law are being reported from Info Park region. Most of the cases reported are traffic-related, that too of autorickshaws overcharging passengers. “The auto fares being implemented in the city limits are applicable in these areas as well. Any complaint of overcharging, if reported, is immediately acted upon,” said Mr. Abraham.

The police are also keeping a close watch over the movement of employees returning after late night shifts. “Patrol parties on night duty will be given the details of the vehicles used by these companies to take their employees back home,” Mr. Abraham said.

However, the employees of these companies, often women employees, were subjected to rude and abusive behaviour, and overcharging was rampant, said Sanjay J.K., general manager of Wipro Technologies.

The companies had been sending alert through mails to their employees on tips to be kept in mind while travelling. The employees had been asked to ensure doors are locked and window glass rolled up while driving alone during night. They had also been warned against getting out of the vehicle to reason out with those trying to stop the vehicle or offering lifts to strangers.

They were also advised to hire cabs or autorickshaw from authorised points and to note the registration number and details before boarding the vehicle. They were also asked not to divert from the original route to their destinations.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Guarding the emerging city Law & order
Monsoon magic

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu