Dirty police stations at Thane force cops to keep them locked

Fed up of the dirty toilets at Thane Nagar police station, personnel have kept them locked; staff at other police stations continue to use the badly maintained, poorly lit, stinky toilets for want of options

This reporter had a sense of been there, done that, during an inspection of the toilets at police stations in Thane. Like the toilets in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai police stations, here too, he was greeted with the now familiar filth, lack of lights, stench, etc.

'Don't we deserve better?'
The ground-plus-one structure of the Naupada police station, painted white, attracts good vibes from outside. But step into its toilet and it's the same story. The loos are filthy and stink. There is no exhaust fan. While this reporter was checking the status of the toilets, a constable entered and spat in a corner. "This is a very dirty toilet but we don't have an option so we use it," said the constable. "They (senior officials) come to visit the police station, check the diaries and other stuff, but never bother to check the toilets and officers' rooms. Don't we deserve better infrastructure in police stations?" he questioned.

A urinal in the toilet at Naupada police station

Filthy toilet locked up
Located on the busy street of Thane Railway station road near the magistrate's court office compound, the Thane Nagar police station's toilet is so filthy that personnel have sentenced it to be locked up. Constables said, "The toilet is so dirty and in such a sorry state that we have locked it up. If you want to use the loo, go to the magistrate office or to the Zilla Parishad office across the road." Women police also said they use the toilets outside police station.

A surprise!
The new building for the Rabodi police station was inaugurated in 2015 near Majiwada Naka and has toilets for constabulary and officers on each floor. The condition of the toilets is much better compared to other toilets at police stations in Thane city. "We make sure that every day the toilets are cleaned. Also, we emphasise that the user pours a bucket of water so the stink also gets away. So far we have been successful in maintaining the condition," said a constable on duty. But Vartak Nagar police station has a toilet with no lights and the urinals are stinky. However, the toilet is better than the urinals as it is cleaner.

The toilet at Kapurbawadi police station is barely cleaned. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

Slippery tiles
Kapurbawadi has the biggest area and population in its jurisdiction, making it the busiest police station in the city. But the toilets here seem to be in the worst condition. They have broken doors and the tiles are very slippery. When asked about the maintenance of the toilet, a constable said, "It is hardly cleaned, and the door has a weak latch, which even when fastened, is easily opened if someone pushes it from outside. We need more toilets in the police station to cater to the flow of visitors and also for constables. Wagle Estate police station too has clean urinals as officials and constables make sure the user also locks the toilets after use so that just about anyone cannot use them and leave them unclean. Kopri police station though, has a stinky toilet and is always locked. Police personnel refused to say why it is locked.

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No. of police stations in the five zones in Thane commissionerate

Population and area the stations serve
Naupada
Population – 5 Lakh
Area – 3.5 sq. km

Thane Nagar
Population: 1.5 lakh
Area: 1.5 sq km

Rabodi
Population: 1.49 lakh
Area: 3.2 sq km

Kapurbawadi
Population: 4.25 lakh
Area: 25 sq km

Vartak Nagar
Population: 6.5 lakh
Area: 4 sq km

Wagle Estate
Population: 4.5 lakh
Area: 2.5 sq km

Kopri
Population: 1.6 lakh
Area: 1.95 sq km

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