Police officials seek shifting of Ghazipur, Bhalswa police stations away from landfills

Police officials have sought shifting of Ghazipur and Bhalswa police stations to "less polluted" areas, saying the smoke emanating from the landfills is harmful to health. Officials claimed that two police officers of the Ghazipur police station died due to lung infection from 2013-17.

While Ghazipur police station falls in the East District, Bhalswa Dairy police station falls under the Outer North District of the Delhi Police administrative arrangement. "We have written to the police headquarters and asked them to shift the police station from its current place to a less polluted area," said a senior police officer of the East District.

However, sources at the police headquarters said that the shifting of police stations is not a feasible idea. The sources said government bodies give them land and they cannot have a police station outside the area of its jurisdiction.

For instance, the Ghazipur police station cannot be shifted to outside Ghazipur as it will lead to confusion and accessibility issues for people. Considering the geographical limitations, shifting of a police station is not an easy task, the sources added. They, however, cited a survey on air quality conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board in January and April. The survey, they said, found pollution near the landfill sites to be high, with levels of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and 10 being beyond permissible limits.

Doctors said that there is no relation between landfills and infections. "There is no relation between infections and landfills. bacteria are the reason for infections. SO2, PM2.5, and PM10 themselves cannot lead to infections," said Rajesh Chawla, Senior Consultant Respiratory Medicine, Apollo Hospital.

Highlighting the hurdles in shifting the Ghazipur police station to an alternate site, a senior police officer said, "We have been given land near Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. The area is not suitable for a police station, plus there is a legal dispute over a portion of land. We have urged the department to shift us to the vacant plot which belongs to the fire station." Bhalswa Dairy police station also faces a similar issue.

"The building where the current police station is located does not belong to the department. It is a rented place. The new land allotted to us is also not very far from the existing location," a senior police officer said.

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