Bengaluru has begun shifting 11,346 vehicles seized by the police from station premises to seven government sites outside the city, in a move aimed at reducing obstructions around police stations and improving pedestrian movement. Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda launched the operation at Jayanagar Police Station on Wednesday, September 16, in the presence of Jayanagar MLA CK Ramamurthy.
The vehicles have accumulated at and around police stations over several years, with some remaining there for 15 to 20 years, according to the minister. Residents had complained that the vehicles were restricting movement near police stations and contributing to an unsightly scrap-like environment in neighbourhoods.
Byre Gowda said the shifting exercise was being carried out jointly by the police and revenue departments. The revenue department has made seven locations with a combined area of 26 acres available for parking the vehicles, after the police department sought land to move them away from station premises.
The minister said the operation followed two months of preparatory meetings. Some of the seized vehicles are connected to court cases, and therefore cannot be cleared or disposed of until the relevant legal proceedings are resolved. Byre Gowda said the vehicles would be shifted to the new sites while awaiting court permission or case disposal.
The initiative is part of a broader effort to address long-standing obstructions in the city, including clearing footpaths, towing abandoned vehicles and removing debris. Byre Gowda said the administration was responding to problems that affect residents’ daily movement rather than treating them as isolated incidents.
The minister said the administration aims to shift as many vehicles as possible within the next month. The relocation will remove vehicles from the immediate surroundings of police stations, but it will not by itself resolve the legal and administrative process required for their final disposal.
The operation also includes vehicles for which notices have already been issued. Notices have been affixed to 2,024 vehicles, but their owners have not come forward to reclaim them, according to the minister. Such vehicles are being towed as part of the exercise.
Byre Gowda also said some government vehicles had deteriorated to the point of becoming unusable. He said he had observed such vehicles and would discuss their removal with the departments concerned. The current operation began from Jayanagar Police Station, with the vehicles being moved to the identified government sites outside Bengaluru.
The immediate next step is the continued relocation of the seized vehicles, with the administration’s stated target being to complete the maximum possible shifting work over the coming month.
