Speak up Delhi: Piled-up impounded vehicles – A common site at police stations

Piled-up vehicles, scrap are a common site at most police stations in the national Capital. The lack of space on the premises of the police stations is leading to a scrap dump yard outside. Recently, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Delhi Police stating that the junk vehicles inside and outside police station are becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes and diseases.

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, on July 31 during the SC hearing on congested roads, had said, "There is junk lying outside your own police station in Nizamuddin... you cannot clear the dump. Inside the police station also there is congestion. What do you propose to do and why has it not been done earlier?" The court has asked the police to form a policy and either move the court applications or look for a place to dump them. The Delhi Police have formed a committee to devise a policy in connection with the junk vehicles.

These vehicles are either towed away for traffic violations or impounded in crimes such as theft or murder, and are kept at the police station's compound and, sometimes, outside the complex due to space constraint. Many times, people don't come to reclaim the vehicles because of the long time it takes for the process to be completed. Instead, they make an insurance claim for the same.

Take the instance of the Lajpat Nagar police station, there is an equal number of vehicles dumped outside the station as inside.

"If all these vehicles are removed, another lane could be cleared for traffic. Moreover, when it rains the water gets filled in some of the cars which are damaged and within no time the insects make it their haven. Some vehicles look like they will directly go to trash and in that scenario, I wonder why they are even there," said Varun, a bakery owner in the area.

For the cops, the problems are many — from people not taking onus to the court applications to a delay in the auctioning process. A police official said that in most accidental cases the cars are damaged and the insurance company has given the claim as well so the owner is not interested in taking the vehicle even if we trace him. After the Supreme Court asked the Delhi Police to form a policy, a committee has been formed to look into this. Some police stations do have the scope of keeping the vehicles owing to larger spaces, but most have space constraints leading to the pile-up.

E-MALKHANAS

The South East District of the Delhi Police digitised its Malkhanas across all its 13 police stations on Friday. Malkhana is a room for keeping seized arms and ammunition and other case properties. Delhi Police Commissioner, Amulya Patnaik inaugurated the e-malkhana at the Sarita Vihar police station complex and at all the other 12 police stations of the district via a live video feed. 

VOICES

All these vehicles in and around the police station have become a cause of worry. Some of these are parked outside, thus blocking the parking space for the society and some are broken and in a bad shape. I saw mosquito breeding in a few dumped and dented vehicle roofs
— Sudha Kapoor, Housewife

Trash around these police stations are not only occupying the space that can be used for parking by residents, but they have also become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The trash should immediately be cleared following the apex court's order.
— Sandeep Bali, RWA, Mehrauli

These junk vehicles are a health hazard and an eyesore, too. In my area, I have seen them rusting away in time. The space that they are uselessly wasting on the junk can be put to better use.
— Kanika Pruthi, Malviya Nagar

Some of these vehicles are in such a bad state that they are only fit to go to the scrap dealer. If the vehicles are removed, then there will be more road space for traffic.
— Kuldeep Kaur, Lajpat Nagar resident

The pile of vehicles not only eat up a lot of parking space for residents, they are also potential breeding grounds for insects and mosquitoes. This is quite a health hazard and the police personnel should understand this and do something to free up the mess at the earliest.
— Mrinal Roka, Govindpuri

We welcome the SC order and now hope that the police stations will do something at the earliest to clear the vehicle dump yard on their premises. In the monsoons, the vehicles are filled with water and yet the police turn a blind eye to these.
— Deepa Harjai, Mayur Vihar, resident

EXPERT SPEAK

Vehicles contain large quantities of hazardous substances such as waste oil, lubricants, batteries with lead and acid, mercury, lamps, electronics, plastic, airbags, etc. If these substances are disposed of in the wrong way, they could cause damage to the environment by contaminating soil and water and then killing plants and wildlife. They could also be harmful to humans, causing skin, eye and respiratory problems.
— Dr (Brig.) Ashok K Rajput, HOD, Respiratory medicine, Venkateswar Hospital