In a bid to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement and improve investigation capabilities, Police Commissioner S. Dev Datta Singh has proposed the bifurcation of the Bhubaneswar Urban Police District (UPD) into two separate districts—Bhubaneswar East UPD and Bhubaneswar West UPD. Under this proposal, each new district would be led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), with a dedicated office for each.
Singh’s proposal seeks to maintain the current strength of police stations and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) offices across the two new districts. The distribution of police personnel will be done in such a way that the workload is more evenly spread across both districts. Despite the division, the overall force will remain balanced to manage the rising demands of law enforcement.
To implement this restructuring, Singh has requested the creation of 988 new posts, with 555 allocated for the West UPD reserve office. The new districts will each have a nearly equal number of police stations, with Bhubaneswar East UPD having 14 and West UPD having 15 stations.
In his letter to DGP YB Khurania, Singh highlighted the growing challenges since the establishment of the Bhubaneswar UPD in 2008. Over the years, the city has faced a surge in criminal activity, including an increase in economic offenses, law and order issues, and traffic-related problems. Additionally, the city’s rapid urbanization, with the growth of educational institutions, healthcare centers, commercial hubs, and industrialization, has added to the strain on law enforcement.
The statistics cited by Singh paint a worrying picture: the population of Bhubaneswar UPD has doubled from 12.66 lakh in 2008 to 27.64 lakh in 2024. Similarly, the number of vehicles has risen from 39,873 to 91,533 in the same period. With these growing numbers, one DCP office is no longer sufficient to manage the increased workload and complexity of policing in the area.
Singh’s proposal aims to address these concerns by splitting the Bhubaneswar UPD into two more manageable districts, each with its own DCP, to ensure better supervision and a safer environment for the rapidly growing city.
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