Piling ‘scrapyard’ of seized vehicles

Hundreds of vehicles impounded by the district excise department, Thane have transformed into a mountain of scrap while gobbling up the entire open space in the premises of the Kalyan unit.

As per official statistics sourced from the excise department, 409 vehicles including cars, tempos and twowheelers, which have been impounded in 397 prohibition-related offences registered by the divisional flying squad across the district between 2004 and 2021, have piled up and are waiting for disposal/auction for nearly two decades.

This is apart from 110 vehicles impounded by various excise units in Mira Road, Bhayandar, Ambernath, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar and Navi-Mumbai. While the existing total hovers above 500, the numbers have increased in the past three years as impounded vehicles jostle for space in the already cramped area. The offences in which the vehicles were impounded include bootlegging, manufacturing of illicit booze (haath-bhatti), smuggling, ferrying liquor in an illegal manner and also other breach cases related to unauthorised sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor by licensed vending establishments. “The pile-up of vehicles has become a major cause of concern. However, we are coordinating with our higherups to chalk out a solution for their collective disposal as soon as possible,” said excise superintendent Nilesh Sangade. Permission for auction has been granted in a negligible number of cases, however searching those vehicles from the heaps has become a herculean task, leaving the department with no other option but to procure judicial orders for collective disposcialise in e-auctions.