In a bid to ensure better coordination on law & order front, the top cops of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will meet once in every three months.

The Director General of Police (DGPs) of neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana and their joint capital Chandigarh will meet to discuss issues related to interstate gangsters, to tackle drug menace, safety of women among others.

Apart from this, SPs of two states and the union territory will meet once in a month for better coordination on law and order front especially in the interstate gangs related crimes while the field police officers will meet more frequently for coordination and cooperation in crime case investigations.

These decisions were taken at the meeting of Apex Committee for coordination of tricity held under Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore on Wednesday here. Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Haryana Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora, Manoj Parida, Advisor to UT Administrator and other senior officers of Civil and Police Administration from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh were present at the meeting.

During the meeting which lasted for more than one and a half hours, the Chandigarh Administration recommended establishing a special unit involving senior police officers from two State Governments and UT Administration to deal with crime by interstate gangsters.

Apart from this, the Administration suggested extension of e-beatbook system in the tricity (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali) and integration of emergency response support system.

“It has been decided that DGPs will meet once in three months to ensure better coordination between three authorities. The need to establish special investigation units, integration of emergency response support system and other requirements for better policing system will be discussed at DGPs’ meetings,” said a senior officer of UT Administration after the meeting.

The coordination committee discussed about various law and order issues like the participation of both the neighbouring states in tackling the crimes committed by the interstate gangsters, snatchings and thefts in the tricity. It was also suggested that there should be special hotline for seamless transfer of border area calls in the tri-city, the officer said

The Administration has also recommended that the security audit of public places for women safety should be done on various safety parameters like lighting, openness, visibility, security, public transport and setting up of powerline for women and child safety and adopt the best practices on same lines from other states including Uttar Pradesh.

At the meeting, Chandigarh Administration apprized the neighboring State Governments that no action was taken from their side to prevent the entry of agitators from joint border even after prior information was given to them and stressed on better coordination and cooperation.

Some of such incidents mentioned by the Administration included entry of Kissan Majdoor Sangharsh Committee Pidi Group entering Chandigarh from Punjab border and reaching Prime Minister’s rally place at Sector 34 here in May last year and agitators from BKU Kadiyan Group, Joint Action Committee of Punjab and UT Employees and Punjab Govt pensioners, Gazetted and non-gazetted SC/BC employee federation , BKU Lakhowal Group entering the city from Punjab border on various occasion for protests last year.

Apart from law and order issue, discussion was held on construction of outer ring road, inner ring road and traffic management issue.  Not keen on implementation of metro project, the three authorities maintained their earlier stand on project, considering the non-viability and high cost.

Following a discussion on this, it was decided that the committee under the Advisor to the Administrator will look into various agendas discussed and resolve the health and transport issues of the tricity. The Administrator directed that this Committee should meet more frequently.

At the meeting, the Administration has recommended that the speed limits of the major roads connecting Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali should be same. The UT Administration also insisted on action against plying of auto rickshaws without permit especially diesel run autos, mandatory QR code for auto rickshaws, taxis  and public transport for the safety of passengers especially women.