The city traffic police has completed its audit of all vehicles that are lying abandoned on arterial roads as well as bylanes connecting them. At least eight guards have reported that there are around five to eight such vehicles in each of their areas. Overall, around 60 such vehicles have been identified.
Certain spots have been identified where the number of such dumped vehicles is higher. They include a few spots off EM Bypass, Tiljala, Parnasree, Kasba, Tangra and Beliaghata and even in certain parts of central Kolkata like Collins Lane and MM Lane.
The audit was conducted following a KMC advisory to remove all vehicles lying unattended on roads in an attempt to control the spread of dengue this season.
“We have removed a significant chunk of impounded vehicles from near police stations. We are holding regular auctions from our own dump yards near Vidyasagar Setu and Pragati Maidan. But we cannot remove other abandoned vehicles without following the legal process. Now that these vehicles have been identified, we will soon send notices to their owners,” said an officer.
The city police has this year scrapped/sold as many as 261 vehicles piled up at the three police dumpyards.
TOI came across half a dozen such vehicles on either side of EM Bypass on Monday. Most of these vehicles have only their basic structures left. Water was seen accumulating in the tyres of a couple of these vehicles. Many such cars along Canal East and Canal West roads are also roofless and have water accumulated all over them. The residents though seemed not to mind. “These are here for years now. What can the police or KMC do?” asked one of them.
Lalbazar wants to act in tandem with KMC since the civic body too has the power to remove such vehicles under multiple clauses. A police officer said: “Private cars cannot be taken away at will. Legal complications are involved. In most cases, summons are sent. But people hardly react to these notices. Once the monsoon gets over, we too tend to ignore follow-ups.”
Among the vehicles for which tenders have been passed are mini-trucks, SUVs, autos and two-wheelers. The bikes constitute over 80% of the entire list of vehicles that are up for sale. These vehicles have been seized by 46 of the city’s 70 odd police stations, besides the detective department malkhana that is disposing of as many as 13 vehicles. This will be the second time since the pandemic that such a large number of vehicles are being disposed of. The cops had in 2021 sold 631 vehicles at one go.
