Mission on to rid city of abandoned vehicles

Police to create database on unclaimed vehicles clogging up pavements and roadsides

Claiming public space: Unclaimed and damaged vehicles left haphazardly on the roadside in Kochi. A scene from the national highway near Palarivattom.

The Kochi City Police will soon develop a database of unclaimed vehicles found abandoned on pavements and roadsides.

The move forms part of an initiative to rid city roads and pavements of the blight of abandoned vehicles. Unclaimed vehicles found abandoned can be sighted along city roads and the national highway stretch from Aluva to Aroor.

“Directions have been issued to identify such vehicles. Notices will be issued to owners, and if they fail to remove the vehicles within the allotted time, we will impose fine, besides taking necessary legal action,” S. Surendran, District Police Chief (Kochi City), told

The Hindu on Friday.

The profusion of unclaimed and damaged vehicles had proved to be a headache for enforcement agencies. For the record, Fire and Rescue Services personnel, who had rushed to contain a blaze near a mall along the national highway close to Edappally, had a tough time reaching the accident spot on Tuesday. “Somebody had lit the garbage heaps lying along the service road. Two unclaimed vehicles, which had remained there for long, were gutted. The charred remains of the vehicles remain there even now,” they said.

Meanwhile, Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) officials said they had come across abandoned vehicles on roadsides and pavements. The department will offer all help to the police in identifying the violators, they added.

According to the police, most scrap vehicles were dumped on roadsides by owners after failing to sell them. “It is also a practice among car mechanics to leave vehicles that cannot be repaired on roadsides. We will be issuing a grace period for them to remove them. If they fail to comply with our directions, the vehicles will be towed away,” they said.

Incidentally, various residents associations had expressed apprehension that miscreants could use such vehicles for illegal activities, especially during night. According to them, abandoned vehicles obstruct pedestrian movement and eat up a lot of public space.