'DNA' special: Parking woes linked to vehicle thefts in Bangalore

The long line of motorbikes parked in the city’s narrow and deserted streets at night can be an open invitation to vehicle thieves. No wonder, motorbikes are more targeted than other vehicles by them. 

These streets show how limited is the parking space available for city motorists.   

So vehicle thefts continue although intensive night patrolling by police has brought down the figure by 30%.

“This year till August 13, 2,989 motor vehicle were stolen. This is less than 30% of the figure recorded last year,” said additional commissioner of police (law and order) T Suneel Kumar.

There are 4,171 lakh vehicles in the city, including 288,1791 two-wheelers, 903,478 light motor vehicles, 112,115 autorickshaws, 981,91 heavy transport vehicles, 47,683 heavy goods vehicles and 127,764 other types of vehicles.

It is easy for thieves to steal motor vehicles kept in front of houses which have no parking space, said Dayananda, joint commissioner of police, crime (east).

Motorcycles are the most targeted among vehicles by thieves. Cars and sports utility vehicles come second, followed by auto-rickshaws, canters, trucks and buses.

Sixty percent of the stolen motor vehicles are branded ones.
Parking space is one of the biggest problems facing the city. Necessary steps have to be taken to tackle this, said BBMP chief engineer Basavaraj Kabbade.

Another BBMP officer, who did not want to be named, said: “We’ve to issue notices to buildings that do not have sufficient parking space according to the guidelines set by us. If the building owners don’t respond to our notices, we’ll have to demolish part of the buildings to make room for vehicle parking. Unfortunately, not even 1% of this work has been done as building owners put pressure on us by influencing politicians.”

According to BBMP chief engineer BT Ramesh, parking rules can be enforced on buildings yet to be constructed. But it would be difficult to follow the rules for buildings built a few years ago.

“We can’t impose the law on old buildings as the then bye-laws for construction would have been different. It is better people start community parking in their respective areas. Countries like the US, Singapore and Malaysia are following this method,” Ramesh said.

If people approach the BBMP for community parking, it will give readily them permission. They can also appoint a watchman to secure the vehicles, he said.

Most vehicles are stolen from areas such as Madiwala, HSR Layout, Electronic City, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Jayanagar, Vijaynagar, RT Nagar and Rajajinagar, police said.
“We are concentrating on these hotspots to bring down the thefts,” Dayananda said.

Most of the vehicle thieves are from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. After stealing the vehicles, they use fake registration records to sell them in neighbouring states. Sometimes, cars find their way to as far as Mumbai and Delhi. Older vehicles are sold in villages and towns in Shimoga, Hassan, Tumkur and Hospet.