The 125-year-old building on M.S. Koil Street housing Royapuram police station is to be demolished.
The (N1) police station, one of the oldest in the city, will be shifted to a building on Arthoon Road, for whose construction the Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation has sanctioned Rs.44.7 lakh.
The old structure, according to sources, does not figure in the list of heritage buildings prepared by a committee headed by Justice E.Padmanabhan. It is in a dilapidated condition and hence needs to be pulled down, said Peer Mohammed, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Royapuram.
“The plan for the [new] building has been approved and it will be constructed on Arthoon Road on the premises where the All-Women's Police Station (AWPS) is situated. But we are yet to get approval for shifting the AWPS to a rental building,” said Mr.Mohammed.
The proposal was made two years ago and it was approved a year ago. The final sanction, however, was received only recently. Police sources say the AWPS would be temporarily shifted to the police quarters in Kasimedu, Mint or Royapuram.
The new building will house the office of ACP law and order, crime and the AWPS. The AWPS in Royapuram is the first women's police station in north Chennai and was inaugurated in 2002 by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
