Backlog of vehicles seized by RTO impacts MSRTC operations

Delay on the part of the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) in scrapping or auctioning seized vehicles has become a major concern for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) as nearly 300 private vehicles (confiscated by the RTO) continue to occupy valuable space at MSRTC depots/stands across the region.

- Dheeraj Bengrut

Despite multiple rounds of official correspondence between the transport body and the RTO, no conclusive action has been taken yet, leaving the impounded vehicles gathering dust at ST stations/ stands for months on end.

The issue of such vehicles came into sharp focus following the rape of a young woman inside a derelict bus at Swargate ST stand earlier this year which raised questions about the presence of such broken-down vehicles in public areas. At the time, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik directed that such vehicles be scrapped immediately.

During the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislature, Sarnaik, while responding to a related question, confirmed that the scrapping process has begun how-

ever the actual removal of such vehicles from bus stations has been delayed due to court cases and legal bottlenecks.