RAWALPINDI, Sept 8: The government plans to evolve a national security plan with the help of police to deal with terrorism, but the majority of police stations in the city lack even the basic facilities such as sweepers, backup power, drinking water and cooks, greatly inconveniencing the staff.

Of the 29 police stations of the district, 18 are located in urban areas. However, basic sanitation facilities are absent in these police stations, especially at the Civil Lines, Westridge, City, Waris Khan, Airport, R.A Bazar and Race Course.

“We have to arrange for a sweeper at our own and sometimes our staff has to clean the office itself,” an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) told Dawn.

Similarly, a senior police official, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that the police department had cooks, sweepers, and barbers, but the majority of these were either serving high ranked police officers or were attached with retired police officers in other districts.

Police officials also lack the facility of cooks to prepare meals for them. Therefore, the police staff had to go outside and eat in hotels which were both expensive and unhygienic.

Even the staff deployed at VIP routes was not provided food despite being on duty for several hours.

“The policemen deployed on route duties are not members of the police mess. Therefore, they cannot be served food from here,” a former superintendent of police headquarters said.

Another police official said, “At least 150 to 250 staff members have been posted in urban area police stations. There is no cleanliness there and no mess facility for them.

On the other hand, the 25 to 50 policemen deployed at patrolling posts enjoy all these facilities.”

A former station house officer, who had been posted at a rural area police station during Ramadan, said he used to send a police van to a nearby village for Sehri and Iftar.

“My driver brought back curry in a plastic bag and bread wrapped in a newspaper as we had no mess or cook there,” the former SHO said.

“But I cannot allow a constable to send the police van to bring meal from a long distance,” he added.

Similarly, he said he shared Rs100 with his subordinates to arrange for a sweeper who kept the police station clean, adding that no power backup was available at his police station during the summers.

A former female SHO of the women police expressed similar problems.

“Though we have a sweeper, no cook is available and our female staff has to prepare tea and sometime even meal for themselves,” she said.

“Except for the printed FIR register, no office stationery, not even a pencil or pen, is provided,” she added.

However, she said water logging was the greatest problem they faced. “Every time it rains, the police station building goes under 3 feet water,” she said.

Recently, the gas supply to the police mess and canteen located at the Police Lines Rawalpindi, where hundreds of reserve police staff are lodged, was disconnected due to nonpayment of outstanding dues, adding to their problems.

A senior police official said he hoped the newly posted City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamayna would set things right.

He said the CPO had taken notice of mismanagement in the police department and directed the withdrawal of employees serving retired police officers and extra employees deployed at officers’ residences.

“These moves would reduce corruption in the department and help facilitate the police staff,” he maintained.