Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Proposes New Police Stations To Address Rising Population And Infrastructure Needs

Navi Mumbai: With increasing population, infrastructure and upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport, the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner has felt the need of increasing the number of police stations by dividing the jurisdiction further into three zones. Currently, there are two zones under Navi Mumbai police which has a total of 21 police stations including, 10 under zone 1 and 11 under zone 2.

With emerging IT companies, infrastructures and increasing population, the existing police stations are experiencing significant strain. This raised concerns about law and order, prompting the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner to send a proposal for the creation of a third zone for Navi Mumbai, to the government, for approval.

This proposal if approved, would add one police deputy commissioner, two assistant police commissioners, and four new police stations to the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate. A decision on this proposal is likely to be made only after the assembly elections.

The Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate covers areas from Digha to Belapur, as well as regions within the Panvel Municipal area, including Panvel-Kharghar, Taloja, and Uran. Since the initiation of Navi Mumbai's development through CIDCO in 1970, the city has seen rapid and planned expansion.

The presence of many renowned educational institutions and IT companies has led to Navi Mumbai being recognized as a cyber city and education hub. The city's industries, quality housing, ample water supply, extensive educational network, and transportation facilities are contributing to a steady increase in population, placing Navi Mumbai at the center of Mumbai-Thane-Pune.

In Zone-1, the Rabale police station's jurisdiction includes Airoli and surrounding villages, as well as Ghansoli village and Ghansoli colony, which has a population exceeding one lakh. Law and order issues frequently arise here, and the local police station faces limitations in maintaining order.

Therefore, the state has been proposed to divide the Rabale police station and establish a separate Ghansoli police station along with an independent Airoli police station. Similarly, due to the rapid population growth in the Karanja node under the Panvel City Police Station in Zone-2, a proposal for an independent police station of Karanja has also been included.

Additionally, there is a proposal to merge the Uran and Mora police stations into a single new Uran-Mora police station under the proposed Zone-3. The construction of the Navi Mumbai airport is progressing quickly and is expected to have its first flight flying by mid-next year.

Urban development around the airport necessitates an independent police station to maintain law and order, leading the police department to propose an airport police station. “The Airport police station will look into only the cases pertaining to the airport just like how it is done in Mumbai,” Deputy Commissioner of police Prashant Mohite, said.

With the rapid development of the Dronagiri node developed by CIDCO in Uran, a separate Dronagiri police station is proposed. If this proposal receives government approval, the total number of police stations in the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate will increase to 24.

Meanwhile, as urbanization has increased in the Ulwe node, the government approved the establishment of an independent police station for the Ulwe node, Which was inaugurated recently.

This restructuring of the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate will see seven police stations in Zone-1 with the addition of assistant commissioner of Police for the Rabale division. In Zone-2, the number of police stations would be eight, incorporating the assistant commissioner of police for the Kharghar division. In the proposed Zone-3, the number of police stations will be nine, with an addition of assistant commissioner of police for the CBD division.

Sanjaykumar Patil (Deputy Commissioner of Police), Headquarters, said, “A proposal for the establishment of Zone-3 and four new police stations has been submitted to the Home Department. Considering the increasing population under the Navi Mumbai Commissionerate, the number of cases reported, emerging law and order issues, population growth, and industrial development over the next 20 years, the decision to have additional police stations was made. We hope for swift approval from the government for this proposal.”