Team Herald
PANJIM: The State-owned ‘junk vehicles’ are lying in the parking space behind Udyog Bhavan in Panjim.
Six immobile four wheelers owned reportedly by three different departments i.e. directorate of industries, trade and commerce, department of information and publicity and electricity department are serving as shelter for rodents, vermin, and other pests.
These corroded vehicles are extensively damaged, including glass windows.
The vehicles occupy parking space and are a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes, which causes vector-borne diseases.
The authorities concerned ought to scrap/clear these vehicles before the onset of monsoon as it is posing an imminent hazard to public health and safety.
When contacted, Director of Industries, Trade and Commerce Swetika Sachan, said, “We have already started the process of condemnation and shortly we will remove them. This process takes time but I am hopeful that before the onset of monsoon these junk vehicles will be cleared.”
Three of the total six vehicles belong to the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce.
Sachan said that regular inspection of the parking area is done by the department staff to check for mosquito habitats.
Director of the Department of Information and Publicity Dipak Bandekar informed that his department has also initiated the process of condemnation.
“We gave one vehicle to ITI. There is one more and we have initiated the process for condemnation. This vehicle is more than 15-year-old and cannot be used. Evaluation will be done and we will clear it as soon as possible,” Bandekar said.
