JOIN USAdding to the clutter on roads
Hundreds of motorbikes, tens of cars, vans, auto-rickshaws and a few mini-buses thrown in for effect.
No, we’re not talking about shots from an action flick. Caught, impounded or towed in post accidents, vehicles of all shapes and sizes land up outside police stations across Delhi/NCR.
These could be vehicles involved in accidents, seized theft vehicles, unauthorised vehicles, tempos caught carrying illegal items such as liquor, etc., abandoned vehicles... the list just goes on.
Known for its notorious crime rate and accidents, Delhi’s police stations see numbers of these vehicles pile up everyday while the cops plead helplessness.
Apart from creating parking chaos in smaller localities and using up public space on busy roads, these vehicles are as much a nuisance for the cops too.
Sanjeev Kumar, SHO, New Ashok Nagar Police Station is fed-up with the pile up outside his station. “These vehicles take up so much space and we are bound to keep them as they are case properties and until the respective cases are solved we cannot dispose them off,” says Sanjeev.
“These vehicles add to our problems. The station is so small and we have to provide security for them too as there have been cases of people breaking glass and stealing parts.”
The case at other stations in Delhi is no better. Scores of vehicles lie around gathering dust and rust. The incharge at Hauz Khas Police Station, who did not wish to be identified seconds Sanjeev: “Even after the cases are over, it takes over six months to get these disposed.
If the owners do not come forward to claim them, then the court auctions them off.” She adds, “We send letters to owners to come and claim them or they remain our headache.”
Delhi has numerous civic issues and eating up of spaces by these vehicles is adding to traffic woes. For the stations that house them within their premises, the situation is not so bad but where the roads are narrow these vehicles compound the issue, especially in congested areas like Timarpur.
The spaces which could have been converted into parking lots lie unused. Lakhs of pending cases add to the numbers of these vehicles everyday.
Dharma Dev, SHO, Pul Prahaladpur, says, “There are no proper warehouses to keep the vehicles and it is our job to keep them secure. We don’t have a choice. Many parts of the vehicles have been removed by thieves but what we can do?
Thousands of cases are pending and hence these lie here in our custody.”