The present state of lawlessness in Berhampur city and its adjoining areas has become a cause for concern. Owing to total lack of alacrity in the police administration here; violence, loot, extortion, murder and gang war have become the order of the day. The Greater Berhampur Region comprising of Berhampur city and its nearby areas of Chatrapur, Gopalpur and Hinjilicut have turned out to be the safe havens for criminals and anti-social elements. As an upshot of this people here are under panic for the last several months, but the state administration is treating this matter with utter callousness. The rising crime graph in the City in the last few years under your dispensation not only shows the insensitivity and inability of the State Government in maintaining law and order in this major commercial city but points to the virtual collapse of the state machinery in the entire region of South Odisha. As the Home Minister of the State the buck stops with you and we demand concrete measures as silence is certainly not the solution.
To deal with the law and order situation in the capital city region, comprising Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, your government created the Commissionerate Police system there. But in case of Berhampur city, where law and order has completely collapsed the State Government has shown little interest in restoring the rule of law. Berhmapur, being a bordering city of Andhra Pradesh and hence the transit point for the anti-social elements and being surrounded by Maoist infested districts, the need for Commissionerate Police system here cannot be overemphasized. In contrast, the discrimination shown towards the city and the entire region of South Odisha is glaring. To mention just one, the state government has created an IG police range for central Odisha at Cuttack, IG police for Northern range at Sambalpur and IG police for Western range at Rourkela while there is no IG range for the entire region of South Odisha even though the law and order situation here is worse compared to the rest of the state.
Notwithstanding this discriminatory approach of the past we want stern measures from your government to contain the rising criminal activities and deteriorating law and order situation in Greater Berhampur. The blame can’t be entirely laid at the local police administration as the existing police infrastructure and man-power is proving to be grossly inadequate for a fast growing city like Berhampur. The existing system of policing therefore needs to be restructured in keeping with the gravity of the present problem and the future growth of the City. In light of the above, Police Commissionerate system for Greater Berhampur has become inevitable and any delay in this regard will prove costly for the safety and security of the citizens.
To overcome the present situation of lawlessness in Greater Berhampur Region and to clamp down the perpetrators of crime we seek your immediate intervention. The people of the region have seen enough of underdevelopment and deprivation and they can ill-afford such a deteriorating environment arising out of complete lawlessness. We do hope that the State Government will take concrete steps for bringing the situation under control by protecting life and property of the people and ensure lasting peace in this major city of the state. Being the Home Minister of the state and for being in the know of the law and order situation of the region, we request you to consider the genuine demand of the people for Police Commissionerate system in Greater Berhampur comprising Berhampur city, Chatrapur, Gopalpur and Hinjilicut, with all seriousness that it deserves.
Warm Regards,
RamPrasada Tripathy
President, SOSA, New Delhi
