Yavatmal police quarters in disrepair, government seeks statewide housing data

The housing problem for police officers and staff who handle law and order round the clock in Yavatmal district has remained unresolved for years. The state government has sanctioned crores of rupees for police quarters from time to time and new buildings have also come up, but despite the poor condition of the old settlements, policemen and their families are still forced to live in them.

Quarters in the old police settlement in Yavatmal city have fallen into disrepair. For the past few years, the local police administration has been carrying out repairs on these old residences.

Responsibility for construction of police housing lies with the Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation, the main implementing agency for this work. Any project has to go through administrative approval, technical approval, tendering, work order, construction, inspection and finally handover to the department that will use it.

Given the poor condition of quarters in Yavatmal city and various police sub-divisions across the district, the Maharashtra Director General of Police on June 10, 2026 sought updated information on government police residences across the state. According to the police department, the administration has updated the information and sent it to senior levels. Yavatmal district has police sub-divisions at Yavatmal, Darwha, Pusad, Umarkhed, Pandharkawada and Wani, under which several police stations function. Besides these, there are units such as the district police headquarters, the local crime branch, the cyber cell, the traffic branch and the motor transport department.

Meanwhile, the police housing project at Umarkhed has been completed. It has 86 police residences built along with the police station building, of which 80 are Type-2 and six are Type-3. The total built-up area of this project is 8,265.25 square metres. Its work order was issued on June 29, 2019, with a deadline of June 2021 for completion, which was later extended. An older approved project list of the MSPHC had also proposed a separate police quarters project of 500 residences for Yavatmal, including 74 residences in Wani and 84 in Digras. Some proposals under this 500-residence project were approved in 2026, while work on earlier approved proposals is proceeding based on fund planning.

For the expansion of the Palaswadi police settlement in Yavatmal city, 2 crore 49 lakh rupees were sanctioned. In the same package, 5 crore rupees were sanctioned for expansion of the Superintendent of Police office and 5 crore rupees for a new building for Yavatmal city police station. A total of 12 crore 50 lakh rupees was allocated for these three works.