Shimla, March 9: In a first-of-its-kind coordination effort, the Himachal Pradesh Police and elected representatives of the Shimla Municipal Corporation held a joint meeting at the Police Headquarters on Monday to chalk out a strategy to tackle the city’s growing traffic chaos, safety concerns and the rising menace of drugs, particularly “chitta”.
The initiative follows directions from Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, but the real challenge will be translating these discussions into visible action on the ground.
The meeting was chaired by the Director General of Police Ashok Tewari and attended by the Mayor, Surender Chauhan, Deputy Mayor Uma Kaushal and councillors of the municipal corporation along with senior police officers of the state and Shimla district.
Ashok Tewari said the interaction marked the beginning of a structured dialogue between the police and the civic body to improve coordination on issues affecting citizens, including traffic regulation, public safety and illegal activities.
During the meeting, he highlighted the performance of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112), stating that Himachal Pradesh has significantly improved its national ranking, moving from the 34th position earlier to the top position in recent months due to faster response and improved coordination.
However, councillors raised serious concerns about the increasing spread of drugs in several wards of the city and even identified some areas as possible hotspots.
They urged the SP police to intensify day-and-night patrolling, especially around schools, colleges and university campuses.
Police officials acknowledged that the fight against drugs cannot be won by enforcement agencies alone.
"It requires active community participation, awareness campaigns and cooperation from local representatives", Tiwari added.
Mayor said that the MC would assurre the continued coordination and more such interactions in the future.
Yet for Shimla’s residents battling traffic bottlenecks and the growing drug threat, the effectiveness of this initiative will ultimately be judged not by meetings but by results on the streets.
