GBA, traffic police start towing away abandoned vehicles in city

BENGALURU: Towing of abandoned vehicle began in the city on Saturday by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and traffic police. The GBA had issued notices to abandoned vehicles a week ago, giving the owners time to move the vehicles.

Minister Krishna Byre Gowda had directed the vehicle owners and those who ignored the notice were in for a shock on Saturday. The traffic police have identified a total of 1,500 abandoned vehicles in the city and notices were pasted on 500 vehicles so far in the Central corporation limits.

On Saturday, towing of abandoned vehicles began near Varahi Temple in Gandhinagar Assembly constituency. Police had put wheel clamps on vehicles parked illegally. Amid the towing drive, a car owner pushed his car that was parked illegally, with the help of locals and traffic police, and took it away. Out of fear of towing and hefty fines, some vehicle owners voluntarily cleared their vehicles.

On hearing about the towing, the owner of a Maruti 800 car, Mustaq Ahmed came to the spot. “I had parked here 15 days ago. Now, they have imposed a Rs. 1,000 fine on me. I paid the fine and got the vehicle released. Please, no one should park anywhere and everywhere”, he said.

Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who inaugurated the towing drive, said, “Work is being done under the guidance of the CM to bring reforms. If vehicles are parked permanently, it causes a lot of inconvenience. Such abandoned vehicles are making Bengaluru look ugly”.

“Notices were pasted a week ago, but vehicle owners did not respond to the notices. So we are going ahead with towing them. After towing, we will again give 15 days time. Roads and footpaths belong to no one, they are public property. Do not encroach on public spaces like this. We will not tolerate vehicles being parked for months”, he said.

“We have listed 2,700 abandoned vehicles. The public have also reported through the traffic police’s ‘Astra’ app. We have pasted notices on 1,034 vehicles. After eight days, we have come and are clearing them. We don’t want the city to become a scrapyard, we will not allow that. The operation is being carried out with the cooperation of GBA and traffic police”, the minister said.

Bengaluru Central City Corporation Commissioner Jagadish said, “In our zone, notices have been pasted on more than 500 vehicles. One week after issuing notices, we are starting towing today. A 2-acre site near Lakkasandra has been identified to park the towed vehicles and vehicles will be towed there. After that, another 15-day notice will be given to the owners. Within that time, they can come, pay the fine, and take back the vehicle. If not, we will go ahead with the auction process. Vehicles that are not auctioned will be scrapped as per the central government’s scrappage rules”.

Gandhinagara MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao also joined Krishna Byre Gowda. “These may seem like small issues, but they are important. This operation will help in vehiclular and people’s movement. We are not even able to clean roads and footpaths. We need basic infrastructure and cleanliness.”

On the issue of ministerial position for him, he said, “Our high command will take a decision on this”. On GBA elections, he said, “Our government had made a request to the Supreme Court, and accordingly it has been postponed. Elections will happen within December, we are ready”.