New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday, acknowledging the piles of junked vehicles lying around several police stations across the capital, asked Delhi Police Commissioner to frame a policy to dispose of impounded vehicles.
A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta asked Delhi Police Commissioner, who was present in the court pursuant to its direction, impounded vehicles were lying abandoned in Delhi police stations "stinking up" Delhi.
The court, which had summoned the Police Commissioner for non-removal of encroachments and traffic bottlenecks despite several recommendations, asked him that 54 meetings have held in a year on the issue but there is still no timeline.
"You (police) want a film like 'tarikh pe tarikh' on the 'meetings pe meeting'," said the bench while referring to the number of meeting it has held with other authorities without any outcome.
The court asked police to come up with timeline to reduce congestion, encroachment and bottleneck traffic in the city and directed PWD and other authorise to cooperate with police.
On the issue of framing policy on impounded vehicles lying in police stations, the bench said there "must" be a policy in this regard and people are frightened to go to the police stations, as the stations become junkyard for these vehicles.
It said outside Nizamuddin police station the junked vehicles becoming breeding ground for mosquitos, and congestion.
These vehicles are either towed away for traffic violations or seized in crimes like theft or murder, and are kept at the police station's compound and, sometimes, outside the complex due to space constraint.
Earlier, the bench had said that it was "frightening" that a large number of people were dying in road accidents caused by potholes and summoned Delhi's Commissioner of Police for non-removal of encroachments and traffic bottlenecks despite several recommendations.
Observing that there are more deaths due to potholes than terrorist attacks in India, the bench had asked why the police has not implemented the February 2017 report of a special task force that had recommended clearance of traffic bottlenecks and encroachments.
The bench, while hearing a matter relating to road safety across the country, had said the two-year time given by the Delhi government for clearing bottlenecks was too long.
Delhi government had told the bench that the time-line was drawn keeping in view construction of flyovers, underpasses and foot over-bridges.
The Delhi government had filed an affidavit and stated that it had worked out a detailed roadmap to remove 77 "severe, moderate and mild bottlenecks" in two years and that an action plan involved both short-term and long-term measures.
