Kolkata: Police-residents of the WhatsApp group quickly replaced the Old Block Committee meeting in Salt Lake in the post-covid world as a resident in the city demanding more interaction with the police following the efforts of the robbery of the warranty last week.
Block Committee Meeting, where the population of certain Salt Lake blocks met with senior police officers in their community centers discussing everything starting from security measures to the road conditions and the safety of the elderly people, has become regular activities for decades.
However, post-covid the frequency of the meeting was dipped due to safety protocols.
With a general election in two weeks, officers emphasized no fresh meeting that could be planned.
“We cannot hold the mass interaction program in a closed community room with the current elderly population.
In turn, we have increased our activities and interactions in the WhatsApp group where residents can directly voice their complaints and needs to the local police station officers,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar Commissioner.
Last Monday, a group of thieves targeted at least four houses at Ah Block in Salt Lake but had escaped from the scene that injured two policemen, following a timely warning by a group of neighbors.
The elderly people in the city said that they often felt unsafe for walking even during the day.
“The robbery efforts at AH Block have become a cold reminder for me when a leeway has taken the gold chain from my neck a few years.
Police patrols must increase,” said Octogenarian Krishna Chakraborty, a resident of Block IA.
Some block committees continue with the night guard system.
“Interaction needs to be accelerated.
But we are aware of limitations in physical meetings because of the Covid protocol.
Therefore we have accelerated our interaction with the Bidhannagar North Police Station officers for WhatsApp and calls,” said Secretary of the Partha Block Committee Chakraborty.
According to the police, residents also need to install CCTV cameras.
“We have told the population in a past meeting to the CCTV installation on track and bylanes blocks.
However, very few are listening,” said another official.
While AE Blok Samaj Kalyan Sangha Secretary Tapas Sengupta feels installing CCTV cameras and routine maintenance is a challenge, some really take these steps.
“We have installed eight CCTV cameras on the Block Community Center and plans to install wireless CCTV at 10 entry points from the block,” said BE Block Nagarik Sangha Secretary Narottam Dutta.