E-Paper
PMC to auction 1,188 abandoned vehicles
These abandoned vehicles were found mostly in Peth areas and Camp, Aundh, Baner, Pashan, Kondhwa, Mohammadwadi, Undri, Bibwewadi, Hadapsar, Sahakarnagar, Yerawada, Kalyani Nagar, Kharadi, and other far-flung suburbs of the city
As the number of abandoned vehicles has increased to 1,188, the anti-encroachment department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is waiting for the commissioner of police to permit them to hold the auction for scrapping these vehicles within the coming week.
These abandoned vehicles were found mostly in Peth areas and Camp, Aundh, Baner, Pashan, Kondhwa, Mohammadwadi, Undri, Bibwewadi, Hadapsar, Sahakarnagar, Yerawada, Kalyani Nagar, Kharadi, and other far-flung suburbs of the city.
The civic body has kept these vehicles in two godowns at Balewadi and Pashan.
“The two-acre area at Balewadi is almost full of abandoned vehicles which include, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers. We have filed for permission with the Pune Police to hold an auction for scrapping these after the final public notice was issued on June 23,” said Madhav Jagtap, head of the anti-encroachment department, PMC.
“We have a total of 1,188 abandoned vehicles of which 751 are two-wheelers, 214 three-wheelers, and 220 cars, all in very bad condition. We are in a continuous process of picking up such vehicles from across the city,” said Dattatreya Langhe, anti-encroachment officer.
According to the data that the PMC shared, in 2018, a total of 690 vehicles were towed in the first phase of a special drive against abandoned vehicles. Over 450 vehicles were confiscated in the second phase of the drive, in 2019. The drive could not gather pace in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The PMC restarted in August 2021 but was suspended after the Covid cases increased. In January 2022, the PMC completed a survey of these vehicles parked on city roads and footpaths for several months and later put notices on these vehicles which were parked at 15 ward offices across the city, where 900 vehicles out of 1,800 were claimed.
In February 2022, at least 800 vehicles were auctioned while recently in yet another drive, they found 1,000 vehicles abandoned.
Rahul Srirame, DCP traffic, said, “We received the file from PMC to check whether any of these vehicles were listed as stolen or used in any other crime. After scrutiny, we have sent the file for permission to the commissioner of police, who should be clearing it for permissions to auction these vehicles this week.”
Prashant Inamdar, member of Pedestrian First, said, “These vehicles illegally occupy public space and block walkways partly or fully causing problems for pedestrians. Such abandoned vehicles can also become a traffic hazard for the safe movement of vehicles on road thus affecting overall road safety. Vehicles lying rusting at the roadside with the accumulation of stagnant water and waste within can become a public health hazard. Anti-social elements can misuse these vehicles for their nefarious purposes causing public safety issues.”
“PMC and traffic police should formulate a proper policy to address this issue. They should detect such abandoned vehicles, identify owners (when possible) and penalize them, shift the vehicles to designated yards and dispose of these off within a specific time frame,” he said.
