The Kodambakkam Police seem all set to have a roof they can call their own. A week ago, the Tamil Nadu government sanctioned ₹80 lakh for the construction of a police station for them.
The facility is coming up on a 3,765 sq.ft land in Corporation Colony, off Dr. Ambedkar Road in Kodambakkam. The property, which belonged to the Greater Chennai Corporation, was handed over to the Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation a month ago.
The Tamil Nadu Police paid ₹2.59 crore to Greater Chennai Corporation as compensation for the acquired land.
Earlier, the Kodambakkam police station was functioning from a rented building near Fatima Matriculation School in Kodambakkam. It got badly damaged following the cyclone Vardah in December 2016.
Since then, the Kodambakkam police station has been functioning from the third floor of the Ashok Nagar police station.
Kodambakkam police station comes under the T. Nagar Police District of the Greater Chennai Police Commissionernate.
It is one of the 12 police stations catering to residents of Rayala Nagar, Valasaravakkam, Vadapalani, Virugambakkam, Teynampet, Mambalam, K.K. Nagar, Pondy Bazaar, Trustpuram, Puliyur, Zachariah Colony and Varadharajapet.
At present, the Kodambakkam police station has a strength of 45 police personnel including women constables.
On an average, five cases, mainly those related to petty thefts, are reported at the station.
The present facility in Ashok Nagar from where the Kodambakkam police operate, is cramped. It lacks separate cabins for inspectors, a visitors’ hall, a dedicated room for maintenance of records and separate washrooms for men and women.
“Issues in land acquisition have caused a delay in the construction of a new station for the Kodambakkam police. The site chosen for the station can be easily accessed by residents of many neighbourhoods in Kodambakkam. Tenders for the construction will be floated soon and the work is expected to get completed in 18 months,” says a source from the police department.
