Rourkela: The police administration here has finally heard the long pending demand of citizens to make the 100-odd public parks in Rourkela safe and secure.
During a recent interaction with senior police officers, IICs and members of the civil society, Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said that from the coming month (November), the beat constable concept will be revived as the first step towards making the parks safe for visitors, especially after sundown.
“They (constables) will be deployed in the parks to connect with people and address their daily concerns. They shall be available for the public during the crucial hours,” Wadhwani told them, adding that stress will be laid on improving community-police relationship rather than enforcement. QR codes will be put up at strategic points in the parks to keep tabs on the presence of the deployed personnel.
“Also people can send their grievances or call them instantly by scanning the QR code. Feedback from the public would decide the performance of the cops,” the SP said.
He said that after the pilot launch at selected parks in November, the beat constable scheme will be extended to other such places following a discussion with the stakeholders.
It is worth mentioning here that the parks in the city have, of late, become a haven for antisocial elements, drug addicts and alcoholics. Besides, complaints of people indulging in sexual acts in public have been received from the parks. This has made visitors, senior citizens in particular feel unsafe to use the parks, especially after sunset.
Significantly, the majority of the parks remain totally or partially dark owing to the failure of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation in providing proper illumination.
Three months ago RMC Commissioner Ashutosh Kulkarni, who is also the ADM, took more than 15 public hearings, and on all those occasions the main complaints he received were about the poor lighting inside the parks. Though he promised to address the issue at the earliest, no steps were taken in that direction.
PNN