Amplified vigil to make Vijayawada safe at night

As the city is increasingly becoming important with the capital set to be located around Vijayawada, the police have initiated measures to ensure safety of the people, particularly during night. There have been number of reports particularly on the safety and security of women passengers at the railway station and bus station in the past. The increasing chain snatching cases also raised the alarm of the police to reorganise security arrangements. Following this, City Police Commissioner AB Venkateswara Rao has initiated some measures.

• Surprise checks and frisking at important junctions at wee hours
• Safety of travelling families and women tops city cops’ priority
• CM wants night life active in capital

The city is set to be awake all through the night with the railway station and bus station having wide network connectivity. Passengers board and arrive in trains and buses all through the wee hours.

“Families arriving in the city during wee hours should not worry about their safety on the road and should feel that they are safe,” is what the Police Commissioner has been campaigning.

Interestingly, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, after announcing that the new capital would be around Vijayawada, had reiterated that he to add glamour to civic life.

“I can’t build the capital away from city life and expect it to be developed. There should be entertainment and night life in the capital city area,” Chandrababu Naidu had said during one of his interactions with the media in the city.

Keeping all these factors into consideration, the City Police from Saturday has begun undertaking surprise checks on the streets, particularly at important junctions like railway station, bus station, Besant Road, Benz Circle, Patamata, Chuttugunta, Bhavanipuram, Vidyadharapuram and Budameru Junction, where late night passengers are checked. The police vehicles keep moving on the city roads between 11 pm and 6 am to ensure safety of passengers from anti-social elements.

As part of the special drive, the police stop the vehicles, verify the credentials including identification. “Though this would cause inconvenience to the people, they should welcome this initiative as it is only for their safety,” asserted the Police Commissioner while announcing the new initiative.

“The very presence of the police on the roads at night sends warning signals to the offenders, while it gives confidence on the security for the general public,” the Commissioner asserted.

“If safety is ensured at night, people would feel secured to travel and the city would look beautiful too,” Venkateswara Rao added.