CMRL acts on 160 abandoned vehicles left at metro rail parking lot

CHENNAI: With steady increase in ridership, the parking demands at the Chennai metro stations too have doubled.

But, a slew of abandoned vehicles at the station's parking lot has been taking up space.

According to the Chennai Metro Rail officials, there are totally 160 abandoned vehicles at the station's parking lots.

Of them, 138 are two-wheelers, 20 are four-wheelers and two are three-wheelers.

CMRL has been constantly taking steps to remove these vehicles as most of them have been stationed since COVID-19 lockdown.

The officials in October last year found that more than 120 vehicles have been abandoned and urged owners to retrieve their vehicles from respective metro stations before October 28, left abandoned since COVID-19.

However, currently as 160 vehicles still remain unclaimed, the officials have taken several measures to get rid of the vehicles.

A CMRL official said, "Considering long halt of these vehicles, we tried several ways to get rid of them. We sent a press note as the initial step, followed by reminders, reaching out to the insurance company and so on. Currently, we have sent letters to vehicle owners by identifying their name and address."

The official says that if the vehicles are still left unclaimed, the local police will be requested to remove the vehicle from the metro rail parking lots.

Additionally, such issues of long halt can be avoided once National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) or Singara Chennai card comes to full force.

"NCMCs are issued by taking customers' email ID and contact number. Hence, to contact and alter the vehicle owner will be effortless, " added official.