The district police control room is flooded with hundreds of requests for emergency vehicle passes from the public.
The control room began receiving applications from April 14 and has so far received nearly 800 applications in just two days through police WhatsApp numbers and official email accounts.
According to sources, of the 800 applications received, around 200 have come from rural areas while the rest have been filed from within the city and other urban areas of the district.
“In case of applications which belong to our district police limits, we are forwarding it to our higher officials for further verification. If the reason is valid, passes will be sent to them. For the other applications which belong to other areas, we are asking them to contact their respective police station limits and also informing the police officials concerned,” said a police official.
Trivial grounds
Though the police appealed to the public to ask for a pass only in case of an emergency, hundreds of applications have been filed on trivial grounds.
“Emergency vehicle passes can be given only during health emergencies, death of a loved one or some pressing issue. But hundreds of requests are pouring in from stranded persons who are requesting permission to go to their places. Some say that their family is stuck somewhere and they need to reach them, while some claim their children are stranded and seek permission to go and bring them back to the city. We cannot give permission to such requests,” said a senior police officer.
Police said that they can only give passes to residents from Visakhapatnam rural limits. Moreover, there is no need for separate vehicle pass for government employees who are going to other places on official duty. They can show their identity cards wherever requested, police said.
