Bandra, Mumbai’s towing capital

Bandra, the queen of the suburbs, tops the Mumbai traffic police list of vehicles towed in 2011, with over 40,000 vehicles.

In 2010, the suburb saw as many as 38,851 vehicles being towed away.

And the primary reason for Bandra topping the list year after year, local residents say, is the lack of parking space in the area.
After a sudden spurt in land prices hit the city five to six years ago, the quaint cottages and bungalows that once dotted Bandra’s lanes have been replaced by skyscrapers or multi-storey towers.

Yet another factor contributing to traffic chaos in Bandra is the concentrated presence of Bollywood celebrities, politicians and the rich in the Bandra-Khar area. Bandra Bandstand flocked by couples, and Linking Road, which is a bustling shopping district, hamper the smooth flow of vehicular traffic almost daily while leading to a scramble for parking space, say locals.

Also, most residents in the area have two to three cars. While they can park one car in their housing society, the other two they must park in the streets, leading to regular instances of vehicles being towed away. “Tourists and visitors to the area do not realise that parking shifts on the road based on odd or even dates,” said a Bandra resident.

In 2011, the Mumbai traffic police towed away a total of 3,45,347 vehicles in the city as against the 3,61,916 vehicles towed away in 2010.

While the western suburbs has topped the list, in the eastern suburbs, Chembur had the highest number with 16,039 vehicles towed away in 2011. This was followed by Matunga (9517), Mulund (9443), Vikhroli (6229) and Trombay (5356).

In south Mumbai, Tardeo was the highest with over 18,000 vehicles towed away.

“Besides towing away vehicles parked in the ‘No Parking’ area, vehicle owners should realise that the traffic police also tows vehicles parked 15 metres on either side of a bus stop, auto-rickshaw and taxi stand, and near road and traffic signal corners,” said a sub-inspector of the Bandra traffic police.