No clearing of unclaimed vehicles even after 10 months despite BMC initiative

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) drive of removing abandoned vehicles from city's footpaths and public areas has hit a roadblock for the past 10 months now.

Reason being, the BMC has not been able to float a tender to appoint contractors for doing the job of removing unclaimed vehicles.

The information was revealed through a RTI filed by activist Sharad Yadav. The activist had sought details about the number of abandoned vehicles removed by BMC. Answering the query, the removal of encroachment (RE) department has said that they have sought opinion of the legal department in connection with the tender to be floated. The legal department is yet to respond to the same, claims the RE.

"The RE contacted the legal section first on August 22 last year. Then it sent two reminders in October, 2013 and February 2014. But even that has gone unnoticed," Yadav said.

Despite repeated attempts, the legal department officials could not be reached.

The BMC seeks advice of the legal department before it undertakes new work or floats tender. This is to avoid any legal issues in view of the work.

The civic body appoints contractors with towing vehicles to clear footpaths of encroachment by garage owners, who park vehicles on pavements. The BMC collects fines from garage owners concerned. The corporation auctions abandoned motors.