Team Herald
MARGAO: The issue of condemned vehicles has been haunting the Margao Municipal Council for years and now the civic body is in a fix in disposing the same.
The civic body had on several occasions tried to auction its old and condemned vehicles but has time and time again failed to get any takers. At present, these vehicles are occupying the huge space in MMC’s old market yard.
These condemned vehicles include an ambulance, a Hyundai Accent car and three compactor trucks which are yet to be auctioned.
The Hyundai Accent, which was earlier used as the official vehicle for the MMC chairperson, was bought in 2002. It was used by the then MMC chairperson Savio Coutinho followed by several officers using it for official purposes. At present, the 15-year-old vehicle has been lying in the yard.
The MMC had put up the car for auction at a base price of Rs 30,000 but it found no takers. MMC automobile engineer Rohit Gaonkar informed that the car’s engine control unit has failed and it is not available in the market, which means the same can’t be repaired. Several other parts of the vehicle are not available and hence nobody is willing to buy the vehicle.”
The MMC too has an ambulance which was also put up for auction at the same price but this too had no takers.
The civic body had used the compactor trucks for nearly 10 years, which are now lying defunct and are beyond repair. However, since there are no takers for the same, the MMC is in a fix in disposing these vehicles.
To make matters worse for the MMC, one of the two night soil tankers has been out of order since the past three months.
The civic body generates annual revenue of Rs 12-13 lakh from these night soil tankers.
The reason for the breakdown is that the pump needs to be repaired which will cost Rs 2.5 lakh. The pump was changed 7 years ago and since the MMC has been losing revenue on account of the night soil tanker breakdown, the civic body has sent a proposal to the DMA to repair the same.
