The Pune police has in principle agreed to vacate the police complex housing the Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police station to make space for the proposed expansion of the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati temple in the city.
The premises would, however, be handed over to the temple trust only after a new police complex is constructed and all the offices are shifted there, he said.
The move comes months after the state government granted Class A tourism status to the Dagdusheth temple in May that would make the temple eligible for government support for infrastructure and development.
The temple trust has been seeking additional land for expansion, and the Faraskhana premises had been identified as a key component of the plan.
The Pune police has sought transfer of a municipal plot in Budhwar Peth to the police department where a modern integrated police complex would be constructed on the plot to accommodate Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations, a traffic police outpost and offices for senior police officers.
It also said that the temple trust would have to pay for the government land to be handed over to the trust for the expansion.
The existing building accommodates Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations along with a traffic police outpost and several offices of senior police officials, including the assistant commissioner of police, DCP Zone 1 and additional commissioner of police (West). The present structure was inaugurated on October 1, 1979.
The argument for a new police complex is therefore not merely about replacing an ageing building. The two police stations serve a densely populated and commercially busy part of central Pune, while the area around the Dagdusheth temple experiences exceptionally high pedestrian and traffic movement during religious festivals and throughout the year.
The Dagdusheth temple was originally located on Shivaji Road near Mazoor Adda. The present temple site was earlier occupied by a fire station, which was shifted to a location near the Gadgil statue close to Shaniwarwada in the early 2000s, after which the land was used for expansion of the temple.
The proposal is being pursued by Hemant Rasane, the Kasba Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and joint secretary of the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganapati Trust.
Rasane said the redevelopment was part of a larger plan for the integrated development of the historic Kasba constituency.
“Kasba is a historic constituency with important landmarks such as Lal Mahal, Shaniwar Wada and the birthplace of the Ganesh festival. I had submitted around 15 proposals to the chief minister for the redevelopment and integrated development of important sites and facilities in the constituency. If developed in a coordinated manner, these places can emerge as major tourist attractions,” Rasane said.
Rasane said the proposals, which include redevelopment of the two police stations, an underpass and other infrastructure works, were submitted to the government last year.
Rasane said the existing police building had been designed decades ago when the city’s requirements were very different.
“The building is around 50 to 60 years old. At the time, the two police stations were accommodated together according to the requirements then. Pune has grown tremendously since, and the police also need modern infrastructure and facilities,” he said.
He said about 11 additional offices function from the premises because of its strategic location and that a new complex would provide better facilities for all of them.
Rasane also said the trust was prepared to construct the new police building if permitted by the government.
“If the government asks us to construct the new building, we are ready to do so. The work can be undertaken through the mechanism decided by the government,” he said.
The next stage will depend on the government deciding where and how the new police complex will be constructed, who will finance it and how the existing government land will ultimately be transferred. Until those issues are settled, the Dagdusheth trust’s expansion plan cannot result in the police premises being vacated.
