MBMC can now tow vehicles, fine violators

Mumbai: The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has decided to launch it’s own towing mechanism in the city, which will give them the power to tow away the haphazardly parked vehicles along with imposing a fine on them.

This comes after the realisation that the absence of a proper traffic management plan had become a roadblock to the all-round development of the twin-city. The MBMC and the Mira Road division of the Thane (rural) police have teamed up to draw a blueprint to ensure hassle-free traffic movement.

Mayor Dimple Mehta, civic chief Dr Naresh Gite, legislator Narendra Mehta, along with SP Dr Mahesh Patil, senior police inspector (traffic) Jagdish Shinde and a team of in-charge officials of all six police stations were present for a joint meeting of MBMC officials and Thane (rural) police officials on Monday.

Issues related to traffic and transportation like one-way system, signal synchronisation, illegal rickshaw menace, hawker free roads, pavements, no-parking zones and other related issues were discussed at length in the meeting, said Mr Mehta. He added that apart from floating tenders inviting private towing contractors, a fresh blueprint would be chalked out to ensure effective traffic management, while pointing out the existing laws that permit the civic body to impose fines and tow away vehicles.

The different options to mitigate traffic jams in parts of the city where congestion has become a major issue were also discussed. Spread over an area of 79.4 sq km, the twin-city is bursting with a population of almost 12 lakh.