Nagpur Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangre Patil stressed the need for strict action against major drug traffickers and peddlers involved in supplying drugs in the city during a ‘Meet the Press’ programme at Press Club in Civil Lines on Thursday. The CP also outlined the roadmap to strengthen law and order in the city during the meet and shared key issues the city is going through. “Increasing drug addiction among youth is a big challenge for the department as well as for the society. To curb this menace there is a need for strict action against major drug traffickers. However, to reduce use of drugs the society should also come forward and join hands with the department to guide our youth,” said CP Nangre Patil, while interacting with the mediapersons.

 

“The Police Department is responsible for not only maintaining law and order but also to spread awareness among masses about how to be safe and identify crime in society. After taking charge of Nagpur city, my team and I are extensively working on this angle. The educational institutions and parents must educate their child about the ill-effects of drugs,” said the Commissioner of Police. The CP also spoke about various issues like serious crime, women’s safety, traffic management, police manpower, footpath encroachment and preparations for upcoming festivals. While talking about women’s safety in the city, Patil said, “Women’s safety is a major priority for us and to address this we have recently formed 12 Nirbhaya Teams led by women officers.

 

We also have deployed beat marshals round-the- clock to improve police presence.” Quick response after receiving a distress call is an important factor for us and the average response time of Nagpur police is 5 minutes. In some cases, we take a little longer but it is negligible, claimed the CP. “The Department has around 9,500 police personnel in which 7,700 are constables. There is a need to maintain a proper balance between manpower at police stations. It will help us maintain law and order with limited manpower,” said Patil. For the CP, traffic management and hawkers policy is also included in city police’s new roadmap.

 

“Effective traffic management is a need and for this 1,500 more CCTV cameras are likely to be installed in the city soon. Currently, the city has 2,500 active CCTVs and additional cameras will help in proper traffic management and crime detection,” said the Commissioner. “Police Department is working with Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for effective traffic management and hawkers’ issue in the city. The civic body will soon come up with hawkers’ policy which is need of the hour,” he pointed out.