As floodwater forces residents to abandon their homes in parts of Faizullaganj, Lucknow police have found an unusual way to keep watch over the locked houses stationing policemen on rooftops with hooters.
With several villages and neighbourhoods partially evacuated, CM Yogi also directed police to ensure night security through police patrols, village watchmen, home guards and PRD personnel. The unusual deployment comes after police received information about a theft attempt from a flooded house in the area. Residents, meanwhile, have alleged that several attempts have been made to enter locked houses after families left the locality. With water still covering roads and lanes, conventional night patrolling has become difficult and risky for police personnel, the DCP added. The personnel also use hooters at intervals, creating an audible police presence in the otherwise deserted, waterlogged neighbourhood and potentially deterring people attempting to enter locked homes.
Petromax and solar lights should also be arranged at relief camps and affected villages, he said. “PRV vans are being used for patrolling during the day, but their movement is restricted at night because of the waterlogged roads,” the DCP further informed. Police officials said the rooftop deployment is being used as a practical response to the difficulties posed by the flooding, while daytime PRV patrolling continues in the affected stretches.
