PANVEL PETROL PUMPS TO GET CCTV, SECURITY GUARDS

PANVEL: City petrol pumps which witness heavy rush will now get CCTVs and guards for more security. The Navi Mumbai police have taken these measures to secure the crowded petrol pumps and prevent crimes.

The petrol pump owners have also been issued instructions to take adequate security measures in the coming days.

Panvel, located between Mumbai and Pune is a junction for several highways including Mumba-Pune, Mumbai-Goa, Panvel-Sion, NH4B and the Expressway.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is also located close by, as are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, iron and steel markets and colonies of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and City and Industrial Development Corporation. With the proposed international airport in the region, the area has gained strategic importance.

The petrol pumps in the region have a regular flow of vehicles and there is little information on where the vehicles come from, what they carry and who the drivers are.

Deputy commissioner of police zone II Vishwas Pandhare and assistant commissioner of police Sheshrao Suryavanshi had held a meeting recently with the petrol pump owners.

“Since the petrol pumps do transactions worth lakhs of rupees every day, the security concerns are on the rise,” said Pandhare.

“We have asked petrol pump owners to install high megapixel CCTVs at entry and exit points, cash counter and near petrol and diesel tanks,” said Pandhare.

“We have also asked them to deploy armed guards at their premises. They should verify the antecedents of their employees and have a proper record of the bio-data of the employees,” said Pandhare.

Petrol pump owners have to maintain a register where the police will mark their visits.

“We have already ordered the petrol pumps to shut down the puncture repair shops, tea stalls, servicing centres and other stalls in and around their premises for security reasons,” said Suryavanshi.

“We have increased patrolling in sensitive areas,” said Suryavanshi.