BHUBANESWAR: The commissionerate police will embark on a unique mission to decongest road and flyovers in the city by removing abandoned vehicles parked at the busy squares for days and months from Saturday.
According to the plan, the police will first alert the owners of the vehicles through the public address system. The police have surveyed Rasulgarh Square and Baramunda Square, where the bus terminal is located to decongest both the areas.
The public announcement urging people to take their vehicles (both two wheelers and four wheelers) away from the roadside will run for two days. If action is not taken, police will tow the vehicles to park them in a common yard.
“It is a massive exercise that being taken up by commissionerate police. As many as 30 officers will be engaged in the drive led by the DCP (traffic). The abandoned vehicles are causing traffic congestion,” twin cities police commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said.
Police said they didn’t have the exact number of abandoned vehicles but know that the two places — Rasulgarh and Baramunda — have rows of such vehicles lying there for days.
The periphery of the Baramunda bus terminal has hundreds of such vehicle parked for months. Transportation vehicles such as tippers, trucks and tractors are lying abandoned along the Rasulgarh-Palasuni stretch.
Since the 1.5 km stretch along Rasulgarh Square is dotted with vehicles and machineries, the commuters move along very carefully. The huge arms of the cranes protrude out of the space towards the service road. In busy hours, the movement of cranes and other vehicles lead to congestion. Vehicles remain stranded as the cranes make their way to the place that has turned into an illegal parking lot.
Binay Panigrahi, a commuter of the route, said one could not take the risk of passing through the road with family members, especially when when with kids, during busy hours. “The vehicles are parked underneath the flyover all the time. No one knows when these vehicles will roll down on the road suddenly and cause a big accident as it is a national highway,” he added.
DCP (traffic) Saumy Mishra said the abandoned vehicles not only pose a threat to the commuters, but also break the smooth flow of traffic. “It is also an eyesore. The vehicles once taken to the common yard, the job of transport officials will begin. They will help identify the owners from the vehicle registration numbers and chassis numbers of the vehicles. They will take a call in case if a vehicle remains unclaimed,” she added.
Sources said the abandoned vehicles were also obstructing bicycle tracks. The smart city is now promoting Public Bicycle Sharing as part of non-motorised transport.