Pune CP gives NOC about vacating two police stations for Dagdusheth temple expansion

PUNE: Commissioner of police, Pune, Amitesh Kumar this week sent a no objection certificate (NOC) to the state home department about handing over the building housing Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations to the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Trust for the temple’s expansion.The NOC stated that the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati temple was adjacent to the ground-plus-three-storied building housing the Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations. It said the temple trust needed additional space to provide better facilities to devotees.Pune commissioner of police (CP) Kumar said, “If the state home department asks us to vacate the building housing the Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations, we will hand it over to the temple trust after a new building is constructed near Mandai Metro station.”The building housing the Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations also houses the offices of the deputy commissioner of police (Zone I), additional commissioner of police and the traffic police.The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) owns a 751sqm plot near Mandai Metro station. A new building can be constructed there with an FSI of 3.5. The police stations will be shifted there. According to the police, either the Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Limited or the temple trust will construct the new building for the police stations on the PMC land.The building housing the two police stations was constructed in 1976. Modern facilities, including elevators, cannot be provided in the existing structure. The building stands on an area of 863.7sqm. Its total built-up area is 22,000sqft.Vishrambaug is one of the oldest police stations in the city. It started functioning during British rule and was initially located at Vishrambaug Wada. In 1976, the police station was shifted to the current location.The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati temple was originally on Shivaji Road, near Mazoor Adda. There was a fire brigade station in its current location. The fire brigade station was relocated near the Gadgil statue, close to Shaniwarwada, in the early 2000s. The land occupied by it was then used for the temple’s expansion.