Traffic police to increase number of cranes to tow cars in city

Surat: People who do unauthorized parking of their four-wheelers on roads will now face strict action as city traffic police plan to tow the vehicles away. City traffic police intend to double the numbers of cranes and also that of car wheel locks.
As against existing 25 towing cranes, police will now have 60 cranes. The existing cranes are mostly used during day time in areas that face maximum parking problems, but with increased number, the tow away cranes will be on duty 24 hours. At present, police have 400 wheel locks and they are purchasing another 500.

The 60 cranes will be equally divided for two-wheelers and cars.

“For cars we are going to use hydraulic cranes. We have been applying wheel locks on cars so far, but now they will also be towed away,” said Sudhir Desai, deputy commissioner of police.

Police tow away around 700 two-wheelers and put wheel locks on 300 cars daily. They levy a fine of Rs200 for a two-wheeler and Rs600 for a car if found parked in a no-parking area. The Rs200 fine for two-wheeler, includes Rs100 for violation of traffic rules and Rs100 for towing charges. In the case of car, Rs500 is charged for violation of rules and Rs100 for crane charge.

“The number of cranes will increase within a few days. We have already placed an order to the contracting agency. With growing number of vehicles in the city, we need more equipment for better traffic management,” Desai added.

Each crane will have one traffic police head constable or an assistant sub-inspector along with the staff of the crane operator. They tow a vehicle only after taking a photo of it to prove that it had been parked in a no-parking zone. Vehicle owners can get their vehicles back on payment of cash fine.