SoBo has the most khataras clogging roads

Mumbai: Parking space in Mumbai comes at a premium and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified 10,482 dead vehicles occupying a chunk of this space in the city and suburbs

Mumbai: Parking space in Mumbai comes at a premium and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified 10,482 dead vehicles occupying a chunk of this space in the city and suburbs.

Gurgaon, India- November 24: Abandoned cars at Sector 29 Police Station. Around 3000 vehicles confiscated in various criminal and accident cases by Gurgaon police are ruining under open sky in different police stations of Gurgaon for a long, reveals an RTI reply. These vehicles have not been auctioned, and the police says that some of these would be auctioned soon, in Gurgaon, India, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. (Photo by Abhinav Saha/Hindustan Times)

According to the civic body’s recent report, from March to October, out of 10482 dead vehicles, 9454 were issued notices of which 4157 were towed away.

The upscale D-Ward (Malabar Hill-Nepean Sea Road) has the maximum number of clunkers – 1009, followed by 795 in the L-Ward (Kurla) and 708 in H-Ward (West) comprising Bandra-Khar-Santacruz (West).

Surprisingly, the congested G-Ward (North) in Dadar and T-Ward in Mulund have the least number of dead vehicles -- 147 respectively, followed by R-Ward (North) in Borivali, which has 149 unused vehicles occupying precious road space.

The civic body’s maintenance department issues a 48-hour notice under section 314 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, following which it coordinates with the traffic police department to tow away the vehicles to dump them in scrapyards and depots. “Every ward has a depot now. After notices are pasted on the clunkers, a period of 40 days is given for people to make claims, failing which BMC sends a letter to the police station to follow certain due processes of law and proceed with auction of the vehicles,” said a civic official, adding that it is important to follow the rules of law so that the civic body does not get mired in litigation, should an owner turn up to claim or demand money for a dead vehicle after 40 days.

“It is equally important to ascertain that the vehicle is not stolen property. After no claimant comes forward, we put out a notice in the newspaper expressing our intent to sell and auction them. After selling it as scrap, the buyer deregisters the vehicle,” said the civic official.

The vehicles are auctioned to pave the way for other abandoned vehicles in the scrapyards, as the space is limited. “Lifting the vehicles isn’t a challenge but auctioning is, as the property belongs to someone else, hence an NOC is required from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for the same,” he added.

According to official figure obtained from RTO, each abandoned vehicle occupies approximately 124 square feet space on the road. A simple math will reveal the amount of precious public space going to waste.

BMC had started an initiative to remove abandoned or parked vehicles in 2019. During the pandemic, the traffic police carried on the drive. It is now being done by BMCs maintenance department of every ward.

The civic body had been receiving numerous complaints from residents and commuters about parked vehicles on the side of the streets for a long time, obstructing traffic and reducing the space of the carriageway road.