KATHMANDU, Jan 11: The columns of motorcycles impounded in various cases and carelessly dumped at the police offices indicate how property worth millions of rupees can be irretrievably lost if effective policies and rules are not formulated on time by the authorities concerned.
Due to violation of traffic rules and lack of documents, the vehicles seized by the police have not been sold even at a price of scrap due to the lack of a clear policy regarding the management of such vehicles.
According to Santosh Acharya, Superintendent of Police at the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, around 2,496 two-wheelers have been held at the traffic offices in the valley alone.
Similarly, 936 vehicles are on hold in all the three police ranges of the Kathmandu Valley.
This data only draws the reality of the valley. Police said that the situation is similar in other parts of the country. According to the police, vehicles are held at the police office due to traffic enforcement, vehicles reported stolen, accidents, etc.
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“Such vehicles are kept on hold due to reported accidents, lack of documents and other reasons,” said SP Acharya, “In many cases, because the owners of the vehicles do not come to claim such items, they are kept in a neglected state.”
He said that due to the lack of laws, the police are unable to sell them, either.
Acharya said that there is no option to ‘dump’ the vehicles as there is no clear provision in the law mentioning who has the right to such vehicles. Also, he added, “It is unclear in the policy what time to auction or sell the seized vehicles.”
According to him, in the beginning, although the seized vehicles were in a good condition, they have been neglected for a long time, and now most of them are in a state of uselessness.
The vehicles held in this way range from those recently impounded to those impounded a decade ago. Vehicles of every brand, from Royal Enfield Bullet to Hero Honda Splendor, which have been imported from abroad at the cost of millions of rupees, are left to rot.
A pile of such vehicles can be seen in front of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office.
Similarly, columns of motorbikes can be seen in front of police circles such as Satdobato, Bauddha, Maharajgunj, Gaushala in the valley. SP Acharya said that these vehicles were brought to these police offices by the traffic police after taking various actions, but since the owners of these vehicles did not turn up to claim their vehicles, these vehicles were dumped at the police office.
“Some of the vehicle owners have not paid tax while some of the owners have moved abroad,” he said.
Suresh Shrestha, Senior Divisional Engineer of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, admits that it took a long time to formulate a clear policy because the management work of these motorcycles is complex.
“The issues of personal property and revenue that the vehicle owners have to submit to the government have also been raised,” he said, “Because of those complexities, there has been a delay in the management of such vehicles.”
He said that the ministry is drafting a law to address this issue and a solution will be reached soon.
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