Why Has Mumbai Said No To Towing Of Vehicles For A Week?

For a city that’s perhaps as evenly populated in terms of number of people as also where it comes to the number of cars, it could be said there’s never really a smooth day in the lifeline of Mumbai. While to many of us, Mumbai continues to ride high on the image of being the starry city for it is home to the Hindi film industry, there are other imageries of the city as well that continue to make news.

For instance, the constantly buzzing roads. Then there are the long queues. And guess what? The traffic snarls that are just as common a feature of Mumbai as is the sight of a film shooting. More like a daily scenario in the heartline of a city that never sleeps.

Having said that, just hours back, there arrived a piece of news that would surely have surprised the common Mumbaikar (the common man living in Mumbai). So let’s jump into it without any further delay.

Apparently, the civic authorities in the city have taken a decision of not to tow any cars for a period of upto a week.

That’s right. No towing of cars for a week in the excruciatingly busy city of Mumbai. Now, the big question. Just why has this decision been taken all of a sudden.

For starters, the decision that involves no towing of vehicles is being tested on an experimental basis. Why it has been enforced, however, is believed to be because of the frequent complaints that the senior police officials in Mumbai have been receiving (of late) regarding the towing of vehicles. And that’s not it, another area of concern would’ve been the huge costs charged by the private towing vehicle owners.

These inputs were shared by a police official.

That being said, what happens now? What’s next?

Starting from Sunday, i.e., March 6, 2022 up until the next week, vehicles that have been parked in the no parking zone will not be towed by the authorities. But taking the informed decision to the public via the means of social media was none other than the police commissioner, Sanjay Pandey.

Meanwhile, as per more details emerging on the Hindustan Times, the following information came to light with regards to the said matter:

Pandey did not respond to calls and messages in this regard. However, a senior traffic police officer said the decision to not tow vehicles – parked in no-parking areas will be implemented in the city on an experimental basis for a period of one week, beginning Sunday, March 6.

The traffic police officer, however, refused to say anything further on the decision, saying they were not aware of the context or the logic behind the decision. “The move is the CP’s brainchild and only aspect we know is that it would be implemented for a week to weigh its pros and cons,” said the traffic police official.

All said and done, while the decision against towing of vehicles would certainly come as a welcome relief to the defaulters, it certainly doesn’t mean that the commoners shouldn’t get their acts together. While questioning the tough stance of the police is such a common trait, maybe time has come to question one’s own wrongdoing in the first place.