The district administration is ready with a fast-track action plan to remove all the rusty vehicles which were dumped along the national and State highways causing serious obstruction to motorists and pedestrians. During the process, the Public Works Department will clear encroachments from land which is being used to keep run-down vehicles and other junk materials.
A Sub Collector and a few Revenue Divisional Officers have been entrusted with the task of completing it on time with the support of the police and other taluk-level revenue department officers. The sub divisional magistrates concerned will prepare a report ahead of removing the dumped vehicles to another spot to avoid any legal complications in the future.
“The task will have to be completed in three months as per the orders from the Ministry of Public Works and the Collector. Vehicles which were temporarily kept along the road in connection with various cases will be shifted to another spot,” said a Revenue Department officer from Vadakara taluk. He said there were many such dumped vehicles involved in various accident cases.
The swift action comes in the wake of a series of complaints that such unnoticed obstructions along narrow roads have been causing accidents. Some of the complainants had also brought it to the attention of Public Works Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas for action. There were also complaints from environmental activists, who claimed that the damaged mechanical parts were causing environmental pollution.
Following the latest directive, efforts are also on to identify the owners of some of the visibly fit vehicles which were found abandoned along the city and rural roads. The majority of such vehicles are motorbikes. According to Station House Officers from various city stations, tracing the owners of such vehicles using registration numbers alone will not be easy. But, it can be done within a couple of months after shifting the vehicles to other convenient spots, they say.
With the intensified vigil against the misuse of public space, the private agencies engaged in the disposal of condemned vehicles will have to make use of their own yard for keeping such vehicles. Following the directive of the local police, many such agencies are now busy with clearing the temporarily occupied wayside space. Owners of wayside garages will also have to arrange their own space for repair works.
