Act against illegally parked vehicles: HC to police, Mumbai civic body

The court has also ordered the BMC to set up a grievance redress mechanism that will let citizens lodge complaints about abandoned and illegally parked vehicles.

Responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) on congestion and traffic in the city, the Bombay high court has instructed the Mumbai police to remove vehicles parked in no-parking zones and those abandoned on roads for more than 10 hours.

The state and BMC have also been directed to ensure that provisions are made to take immediate action to remove such vehicles in case of specific complaints (HT Photo/Representational Image)

The court has also ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to set up a grievance redress mechanism that will let citizens lodge complaints about abandoned and illegally parked vehicles, so that they can be picked up by the authorities.

On Tuesday, a division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla gave the Maharashtra government and BMC two months to set up a system by which citizens can lodge complaints via phone call, email or WhatsApp about vehicles that have been abandoned or are illegally parked.

The bench also directed the state to issue instructions to all police stations across Maharashtra to scrupulously comply with section 127 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, provisions in the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, and the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, which empower local police officers to remove vehicles abandoned on the road for more than 10 hours or vehicles parked in no-parking zones immediately.

The Bombay high court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by city resident Tekchand Khanchandani, who had complained about traffic congestion and encroachment of footpaths in Goregaon and Jogeshwari.

He complained that though notifications are issued by the traffic police department regarding important arterial roads, they are not implemented properly and had cited as example both sides of Link Road starting at Hypercity Mall in Goregaon west and ending at Oshiwara Bridge.

Despite the traffic police issuing a notification in February 2009 – imposing revised traffic restrictions like no parking, no halting and no U-turns, no right turns – motorists and police both ignored the directive.