Seized, unfit vehicles from yards and police stations in Bhubaneswar to be scrapped: BMC Mayor

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced plans to remove and scrap long-abandoned, unfit, and seized vehicles lying at its own premises as well as at various police stations across the city. The move, according to Mayor Sulochana Das, is aimed at generating two-fold benefits of improving the city’s aesthetics by freeing valuable land and generating additional revenue.

“Several broken hoardings lie dumped at BMC. Similarly, several old BMC vehicles, which have been damaged to the extent that the RTO has certified them unfit, will all be sold as scrap. There is no alternative for them,” said Mayor Das in an interaction with the press on Sunday.

Cluttered Spaces in Prime Localities

Currently, many of these unused vehicles, including accident-damaged cars, confiscated two-wheelers, and defunct jeeps, are lying unattended at prime locations such as BJB Nagar. Officials have noted that the vehicles are not only occupying valuable public land but are also turning into breeding grounds for anti-social activities.

“Not only are they taking up unnecessary land space, but they are also becoming hubs for anti-social elements,” the Mayor pointed out.

Coordination with Police

To address the problem at the police station premises, BMC will formally request the cooperation of the Commissionerate Police. The Mayor confirmed that discussions had already taken place with the then Police Commissioner, and a formal letter would now be sent to the newly appointed Commissioner.

“Old jeeps and police vehicles would be requested from the police to be sold as scrap. We had discussed this with the previous Police Commissioner and will soon write a letter to the New Commissioner,” said Das.

Revenue and City Clean-Up

According to BMC, the removal of these seized and unfit vehicles will serve a dual purpose of reclaiming large tracts of unused space across the city and generating much-needed revenue from the sale of scrap.

Further, the civic body would also clear discarded hoardings and broken BMC assets as part of the same initiative, ensuring a cleaner and more organised city environment.