Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu inaugurated the new West Town police station and round-the-clock police bike patrolling on the 14-km-long Girivalam path near the Chengam Road in Tiruvannamalai town on Thursday.
Bifurcated from Tiruvannamalai Taluk station, the new police station will be manned by around 40 police personnel, including women constables. It will cover all three wings of the police: crime, law and order, and traffic. The new station will cover at least 15-17 remote villages, including the crime-prone Periakolapadi on the Girivalam path.
As a stop-gap measure, the new station will function from one of the four travellers’ rest houses of the Department of State Highways on the Girivalam path. Land sites at Pavazhakundur, Athiyandal, and near Government Arts College on the path are being identified to build their own building for the new station on a two-acre plot.
A key reason for the formation of the new station was the long distance of 20 km between Taluk police station and Girivalam path, which comes under Taluk station limits. Regular patrolling and reaching to the crime scene have remained challenges for Taluk police for years.
Around five to six lakh visitors come to the town during Chitra Pournami days. Petty crimes like snatching, burglary, and robbery are reported often. N. Kannan, IGP (North Zone); M.S. Muthusamy, DIG (Vellore Range); Tiruvannamalai Collector B. Murugesh; K. Karthikeyan, SP (Tiruvannamalai); and C.N. Annadurai, MP (Tiruvannamalai), were present.
