Mumbai Police cleared the roads of impounded vehicles by Thursday morning, which were causing congestion on the Western Express Highway (WEH) since Monday. Police said, while some vehicles were returned after collecting a nominal or no fine, the others were parked off the roads to ensure it doesn't lead to traffic snarls.
After extensive checks conducted across the city in a crackdown on errant motorists who ventured outside the permitted 2km radius for essentials, their impounded vehicles had clogged the streets of Mumbai, leading to an unwanted congestion. This clutter stood cleared on Thursday morning, as these vehicles were either returned or parked off the roads.
The impounded vehicles were mostly returned after two days as the Motor Vehicle Act does not allow the seizure of vehicles for a longer period. The motorists, however, were booked for violating the law and issued a notice. A senior police official said, "Since there is a limited space available in the police compound, it was impossible to accommodate such a high number of impounded vehicles in the lanes. After the impounding, a special squad was deployed for security of these vehicles."
The high-end cars and bikes were parked in police compounds or off the highways, to ensure that they are not stolen or tampered with, said the official. In the aftermath of the clearance of impounded vehicles, the traffic movement along the WEH on the Jogeshwari-Andheri stretch was smooth and reported no snarls.
While issuing the new guidelines on Sunday, restricting all types of movement within the two kilometres of radius and only exempted essential services workers, for office goers and for medical emergencies, the Mumbai Police had warned that anyone found violating the norm would be booked and their vehicle would be impounded compulsorily.
On Thursday, Mumbai Police released the data stating that the number of vehicles impounded was 3,508 and 5,756 on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, along with 1,879 impounding conducted by traffic police on Tuesday. Of these, a maximum of 1,784 vehicles were seized in the western suburbs in the last two days. The impounding drive mellowed after the first two days of checks, wherein a total of 23,366 vehicles were seized on Sunday and Monday collectively by the Mumbai Police.
