PCR fleet inadequate, should have 2,500 vans: Delhi's top cop

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police's fleet of PCR vans is inadequate and it should be increased from existing 1,000 to at least 2,500 for effectively discharging its duties, Commissioner BS Bassi said today.

"We have been struggling for increasing the number of PCR vans and I was discussing with a senior official to make a fresh proposal for the need of around 2,500 PCR vans," Bassi told reporters at the Delhi Police Annual Conference.

The present strength of 1,000 PCR vans are inadequate to discharge duties properly, he said.

Noting that resources were limited and that it could be spent on either policing or development, Bassi said he and his predecessors had been sending proposals in this regard and his successors would continue to do it.

Asked about the birth of a baby in PCR van in north east Delhi when it was stuck in a traffic jam, Bassi said if there were good ambulance services in Delhi, babies would not have born in PCR vans.

"Those who were responsible for a proper ambulance service in Delhi could not do so in many years, so much so that seven babies were born in PCR vans of Delhi Police last year," the police chief said.

Records revealed that the police control room (PCR) receives on an average around 23,761 calls every day of which, as many as 7,161 are attended to.

The average response time has been 5.47 minutes for high priority calls and it has been 5.58 minutes for calls related to women in distress.

The PCR unit of Delhi Police has a sanctioned strength of 1,000 patrol vans. But 122 are at present categorised as "condemned" while due to major and minor repairs, further 28 to 35 vehicles remain sidelined on any given time, official data showed.