Mumbai: HC raps traffic police over illegally parked generator vans

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court yesterday took a strong view against illegally parked generator vans on Bantara Bhavan Road in Kurla (East) and asked for an affidavit from the senior inspector (traffic) of the area, detailing what steps his department has taken to deal with the menace. On July 10, MiD DAY had reported (Generator vans spark traffic nightmare) that over 150 trucks, mostly generator vans, were parked along the road, causing serious inconvenience to local residents.

The order for an affidavit came after division bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and AR Joshi heard a petition filed by Lata Shetty, president of Bunts Mahila Sangha. The court has also directed the collector to prepare a report of steps he has taken under section 133 of The Code of Criminal Procedure for removal of the trucks. Section 133 gives the collector power to pass a conditional order to ‘remove nuisance’.

Additional Public Prosecutor AS Pai informed the court on Wednesday that traffic police were patrolling the area almost four times a day, to ensure that the trucks are kept out. Advocate Pradeep Havnur, who represents the sangha, said, “The institute runs an old age home, a women’s hostel and several educational institutions in the area, all of which are inconvenienced by the presence of the vans. Girls from the women’s hostel are also disturbed by the truck drivers who bathe and urinate in the area.”

The court asked what steps had been taken to tackle the traffic nightmares caused by the generator trucks.

On August 25, 2010, three generator van operators — Sayed Ali of SM Film Power Equipment, Vajid Ali Siddiqui of RV Trans Power and Sayed Meere of Generator on Hire Equipment — had given an undertaking to Bombay High Court saying they would not park any generator vans on Buntara Bhavan Marg. However, these promises were soon broken.

The situation deteriorated to such an extent that BEST warned the traffic department in a letter dated April 2, 2012 that route 610 between Bunter Bhavan and Kurla station would have to be cancelled if the problem was not addressed. The bus is the only one that services the area.

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