Twenty-six of its police stations work out of rented or borrowed premises without basic facilities like a lock-up. Another 24 police stations are working out of temporary structures even though land is available.

The station buildings are in the planning stage and will take a minimum of 2-3 years for completion. Police stations like Greater Kailash have been without land for over two decades. After working out of tents for several years, the police station only recently got temporary porta-cabins.

“In the records, land is allotted for an MCD park and the police have taken it on lease. We cannot, however, construct any permanent structures on this land,” a senior police officer said.

The Greater Kailash police station, therefore, does not have a lock-up or even proper barracks for its constables. Every time somebody is arrested, he has to be sent over to C R Park or other police stations nearby.

The Maurice Nagar police station, which is responsible for Delhi University’s North Campus, has the same problem. The Delhi Police has taken the land on lease for 99 years from the university and cannot build any permanent structures on it.

The Police Training College in Wazirabad too worked out of a temporary structure for five years until recently, when the land-use was changed from agricultural to land for police use. The guidelines of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) state that every police station should have at least 2.5 acre of land. “We are discussing the problem with the authorities. Although working out of temporary structures is an impediment, no overnight solution is possible,” Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.

Former BPRD director Kiran Bedi said the situation points to planning errors. “There has been no planning on how many police stations we would need in future. Most have come up from police posts after crime increased in the area. The airport, for instance, doesn’t have any provisions for a police station,” Bedi said. The police share a building with other civil offices with no separate compound at the domestic airport.

Only in Dwarka and Rohini did the DDA provide space for police stations before the colonies came up. “The first casualties usually are the barracks. It’s bad for the neighbourhood if police officers are not readily available in time of crisis,” Bedi said.

Many under-construction police stations are sharing space with other stations. For example, the Barakhamba Road police station, inaugurated after the Delhi blasts, is working out of the Connaught Place premises. The Nabi Karim police station is working out of the Paharganj police station.