The unique package, which is being developed by Systems Research Institute (SRI) for the last couple of months, is likely to be installed on the police computer system in Pune within the next three months, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ramrao Pawar at a press conference yesterday.

The package has been sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pune Riverside. This is most probably for the first time in the country that the police will use such a sophisticated package, according to him.

Once ready for use, the package will provide computerised maps showing the boundaries of police stations and chowkeys; locations of various sensitive places, VVIP and VIP routes; routes of various processions, reception centres on such routes, religious places along the routes and population strata along it.

The maps would also provide information about the areas in which various communal organisations operate; specific locations of polling booths, returning offices; vote counting centres; shops dealing in explosives, arms and ammunition; newspaper offices and printing presses; offices of various political parties; power centres; dams; airport; ammunition factories; government rest houses; graveyards and crematories; courts; hotels and lodges; remand homes, mahila ashram and shelter homes; slums; factories; theatres as well as Central and State Government offices, municipal offices, Zilla Parishad offices and gram panchayat offices.

With the help of the package, the police would be able to have maps showing specify the exact locations of brothels; school and colleges; blood banks; slaughter houses; petrol pumps; highway dhabas; playgrounds; banks; national highways, state highways and internal roads; one ways; signals; speed breakers; bridges; bus termini and railway stations; accident prone areas; hospitals; educational institutions; places of worship for various religions; statues as well as the police wireless and communication centres spread across the city.

Besides making decisions pertaining to deployment of policemen for bandobast during various processions and elections, the digital maps are also expected to prove useful in prevention, investigation and detection of crimes, Pawar said.

The project to develop the package was envisaged by Deputy Commissioner of Police Pawar around two years back. The actual work of developing the package started about three months when the Rotary Club of Pune Riverside agreed to sponsor the project, said the president of the club Rohit Jerajani who was also present for the press conference.

Pawar and Jerajani said the basic maps required for the project were obtained from the Survey of India. S P Barve, who has authored a book of Pune's maps, volunteered to mark the boundaries of various police stations and chowkeys on the maps. The rest of the data pertaining to the exact locations of various places was collected from all the police chowkeys, Pawar said.