90-year-old Delhi police address finds a new beat, set for modern makeover

NEw new new delhi : A single-storey edward douglas white jr. Compound edifice in Delhi’s Diplomatic Enclave, which has stood as a silent witness to the Capital’s policing history for nearly nine decades, is now undergoing a transformation that will give it a new lease of life.Tucked discreetly in a leafy corner, 17, Mother Teresa Crescent Marg in Chanakyapuri, is being redeveloped into a modern Gazetted Officers’ (GOs) mess. Once completed, the revamped space will serve as a social and ceremonial hub for senior police officers above the rank of assistant commissioners (ACPs). According to officers familiar with the refurbishment plan, it will also offer a space to host official and personal gatherings, from promotion and retirement parties to birthdays and even weddings of the officers’ children.At present, the 90-year-old building, spread across about four acres, is serving as the police academy for ‘smart policing’ and offices of the Police Families Welfare Society (PFWS). The campus, known as ‘17 MTC’ among police officials, stands nearly 400 metres from the Teen Murti–Haifa Chowk roundabout. It has two iron gates—one for entry and the other for exit—connected by an internal driveway. Beside the driveway is a long, open green lawn that is often used to set up temporary tents for social gatherings.About 100 feet from the entrance gate is the main white limestone building. A long front corridor with 30 round pillars runs across it. Parallel to the corridor are 10 rooms and halls, currently used for smart policing training, meetings, and offices of the Police Families Welfare Society (PFWS).The plan to turn it into a GOs mess was made by senior functionaries at the police headquarters, according to assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Chandra Prakash, who has also been the building’s caretaker for the past 20 years. Under it, a portion of the heritage structure and its lawns will be made available to gazetted officers for paid bookings to host their parties and other functions, he added. It is the only place in central Delhi, where a majority of the police brass lives in official flats, with sufficient space for this purpose. Delhi Police are using their own funds, allotted by the central government, for the redevelopment work. Senior police officers, however, said no changes will be made to the old structure.As a result, over the last eight months, modern additions have been made to its premises, said Kailash Kaushik, another police official at the campus. On the right side of the inner lawn, one can now see a swanky and transparent glass house with modern lighting and portable air-conditioner (AC) units. The glass house can seat about 100 guests and is ideal for small functions.At the rear lawn, now there is a bar counter with shelves made of wood and glass with an extensive display of empty liquor bottles, giving it a club-like feel. Nearby, there now a lounge space for visitors.“There are different booking fees for the front lawn and the glasshouse. The booking fee for the front lawn is ₹35,000 plus ₹10,000 as cleaning and maintenance charge. The glass house with the bar counter and the living room can be booked by paying ₹30,000 plus the maintenance fee of ₹6,500. These charges are only for Delhi Police’s GOs,” said Prakash.The booking and maintenance charges for GOs of other law enforcement, security, military, para-military and intelligence agencies are higher — ₹1 lakh for the front lawns and ₹45,000 for the glass house. “A safe house for VVIPs has also been created within the premises to secure important guests during emergencies,” said another officer at the campus, asking not to be named.While the venue hosts one or two functions every month on average, this could increase to three or four every week once the place starts fully functioning as a mess. Also, the request for a permanent liquor licence in-house catering services are still pending. “As of now, the person hosting the event has to obtain the liquor licence from the concerned departments for the day,” said Kaushik.From a small police post to a full-fledged police stationThe structure that stands today was completed in 1935, two years after the British made Delhi the capital. It became home to Roberts Road police station, named after Robert Tor Russell, the British architect of Connaught Place.“The Roberts Road police post was established under the then New Delhi police station, which is now called the Parliament Street police station. The post was responsible for policing the newly built government complex and residential areas around what is now the Rashtrapati Bhawan,” according to ACP Rajender Kalkal, instrumental in creating the Delhi Police archives and setting up the police museum.In March 1941, when the Tughlak Road police station was established, the Roberts Road police post was brought under its territorial jurisdiction. It stayed this way till May 1958 when it was converted into a full-fledged police station to meet the security and law and order needs of central Delhi.“With time, the Roberts Road police station went through several name changes. It was first renamed Teen Murti Marg police station, then Teen Murti police station, and finally Chanakyapuri police station, reflecting the identity of the diplomatic neighbourhood that had emerged around it,” added Kalkal.According to the police archives, after the Chanakyapuri police station was shifted to a new and larger building near the Nehru Planetarium in 1963, the old colonial structure was given a different role. At first, it was first converted into the Reserve New Delhi (RND) police lines, the second police lines of the city police.“The RND police lines handled policing matters in the city’s central and southern parts. It was also seen as an expansion of the police force in the city that was expanding rapidly,” said a senior police officer, who asked not to be named.The RND police lines functioned at the colonial structure for nearly a decade and in 1973 it was converted into the Delhi Traffic Police lines, which functioned there till 2011. However, the place continued to be known as the traffic police lines until 2011, when they were shifted to the full-fledged headquarters of the traffic police at Todapur near Inderpuri in west Delhi.After the traffic lines were relocated, Delhi Police decided to restore and reuse the heritage building rather than abandon it. In 2013, the building was allotted to the Delhi Police Academy for training purposes. Now it is an academy for smart policing for gazetted officers – from ACPs to special commissioners of police.Then, in 2017, it also became home to the PFWS chairman’s office. This will continue at the location until a decision is taken to shift them elsewhere.