Decked-up Gardens and Porticos Will Greet Visitors at Kerala Police Stations as the Cops’ World Goes Chic

Thiruvananthapuram: Everything about this construction in Malampuzha is a feast for the senses.

A well decked-up garden leading to a portico greets you to the well-lit, windy interiors housing the toughest department handling law and order, as it is known to the rest of the world.

The visitors’ room has been done up in a way that would help one keep aside those baggage of woes, for the few minutes that one is here.

Gone are the shabby and bland images of the world of khaki-clad men. This is the Malampuzha police station where there is everything a smarter generation can look forward to.

The Kerala Police has cherry-picked 100 police stations in the state in a bid to fortify the police-public relation for a better tomorrow.

The smarter ways of the world was explained by P Vijayan, IPS, IG Police (administration).

“The government of Kerala has earmarked Rs 175 crore for modernising policing. The fund is put to use for the comprehensive development of the department. The allocation goes under various sub-categories such as police station strengthening, infrastructure development, better transportation, Student Police Cadets, community policing projects and so on. The green protocol-compliant facelift is a part of police station strengthening. All police stations warmed up quickly to the idea and responded positively," Vijayan told News18.

The villa-like police station at Malampuzha is the story of a 35-year-old building going chic. All through the three-month of refurbishing, the department was keen not to suspend the daily duties for want of a better space or pack up elsewhere.

“We chose a pleasing one from a few designs suggested by private interior designers. The building was strong enough to go under the knife. The new design covers the reception area, visitors’ room, sub-inspector’s office, patio and garden that come at a cost of Rs 5 lakh. We were operational while the construction was going on in full swing. An official inauguration is planned once the remaining work with gardening is completed," said Sooraj KS, Sub Inspector of Police, Malampuzha police station in Palakkad district.

Six police stations in Palakkad are undergoing renovation as part of the beautification project.

The entire project aims to implement the idea of ‘training at doorsteps’ for police personnel, where, in future, the police station shall meet all training requirements for the force.