KOCHI: Several rusty vehicles lay abandoned along the Palarivattom-Edapally service road, causing traffic snarls and inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians alike. The road, which helps ease traffic during peak hours when the highway is bursting at the seams, has been cramped up for a while. Now, people are using these abandoned vehicles to dump waste. According to the residents, people come in private vehicles, stop by and discard domestic waste atop the vehicles.
“It is not just domestic waste. Homeless migrants also stay along the roadsides and discard waste mindlessly on the roadside or in these vehicles. The health department did warn them, but there has been no change. Though the corporation clears the waste, the piles would resurface in a day or two,” says Anil Kumar, a local driver.
A mini-tempo has been lying on the roadside for three years, while some other vehicles have been abandoned for over a decade, said a pedestrian. According to them, these vehicles were confiscated by the traffic police in accident cases. “Illegal activities and waste dumping have become a regular affair now. The corporation can take hold of the vehicles only if the cases are closed.
The corporation secretary had sent requests to the station in charge regarding the issue, but no action has been taken so far. If the traffic police cannot accommodate the vehicles in their space, the corporation must make some alternative arrangement to take care of them,” said Krishna Kumar, health inspector, Edapally.
Since 2018, traffic police have been excluded from the investigation of road accidents, said a police officer. “Traffic police station was renamed traffic enforcement unit. When an accident case is registered by any local law enforcement unit, the vehicle is not abandoned by the roadside anymore, to avoid theft or vandalism.
It would be kept within our premises or yard,” said an official in the Edapally traffic enforcement unit. “Vehicles involved in cases are usually returned after inspection to the owners. Or they are kept on our premises. Chances are, these abandoned vehicles were left there by the owners under different circumstances,” said an officer of the Elamakkara police station.
Traffic police update
In 2018, traffic police was renamed traffic enforcement unit. They were excluded from investigation of road accidents and put in charge of managing traffic.