The Hindu : Front Page : Unclaimed autos leave officials in a fix

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Saturday, May 31, 2008
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Unclaimed autos leave officials in a fix

Vidya Venkat

— Photo: R.Ragu

GATHERING DUST: The impounded autorickshaws in the shed on Pallavan Salai.

CHENNAI: Hundreds of autorickshaws seized by Regional Transport Offices remain unclaimed inside a forlorn open shed on Pallavan Salai here. A middle-aged man, posted to guard the vehicles, sits listlessly. Besides the dust-coated vehicles, he has only poisonous snakes for company.

The three-wheelers were impounded by the RTOs during vehicle checks done across the city in the past five years. After every RTO drive, vehicles pile up here. The guard, Arumugam, who has been here for three years now, says vehicles only come in; they rarely return as no one turns up to claim them.

He says the shed does not have a proper compound wall, encouraging thieves to break in. “In many vehicles, batteries and spare parts are found missing.”

Transport Commissioner C.P. Singh says the department is in a fix as to what to do with these vehicles. “Drivers are often caught without a registration certificate (RC) book or licence. Unless someone approaches us with these documents, we cannot release the vehicle.”

According to Joint Transport Commissioner D. Narayanamoorthy, more than 400 autorickshaws in the shed are in running condition. A few hundred more vehicles are lying unclaimed in a shed behind the Institute of Road Transport (IRT) at Taramani.

He says the department is unable to identify several of the owners as ‘benami’ transactions or multiple transfers of ownership are common. Without identifying the owner they cannot even dispose of the vehicle to scrap dealers.

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