About 500 vehicles were gutted in a fire at the police dumping yard in Taliparamba on Thursday. The vehicles seized by nine stations under the Payyannur police sub-division are among these. This dumping yard, which had become a graveyard for all kinds of vehicles, was almost in an abandoned state. Vehicle mortuaries like this, owned by the police, can be seen in every district. Law enforcers do not take notice of how much inconvenience the evidence vehicles are causing to motorists and the public, blocking the smooth flow of traffic on public roads. If the vehicle is parked in such a way as to create traffic obstruction, the vehicle owner will have to pay a heavy fine. But people should bear this violation of law by the law enforcers.

This is not the first time that a fire has broken out at the dumping yard in Taliparamba and vehicles have been damaged. There have been fires here before as well. But there were no further discussions as they were all vehicles nabbed in various lawsuits. As there are no security guards or systems to deal with an emergency, vehicles continue to burn until fire units arrive to put out the fire. Six fire engines battled the blaze for hours. But by then, hundreds of vehicles were on fire. The initial estimate is that there has been a loss of crores of rupees. Even though they are vehicles stuck in lawsuits, they are still costly.

It is the labyrinth of traffic laws that causes hundreds of vehicles to perish in every police station area without any benefit to anyone. Speedy settlement of car accident cases can provide some relief. Likewise, if the vehicle is handed over to the owner on sufficient assurance after completing the collection of evidence related to the accident and a detailed report, the accident vehicles will not rust for years. Instead of leaving vehicles on the road where their owners don't look back, they can be auctioned off publicly and pumped into the coffers. The High Court has brought this matter to the attention of the government many times. When there is a suggestion, the police take action on it. But once the first auction is over, everything will be back to normal. Yards and station premises fill up with wagons once again.

The state is reeling from uncontrolled traffic congestion. With the increase in vehicles, the accident rate also increases. Along with this is the increase in cases related to traffic violations. Thoughts of what can be done legally to give away junk vehicles to their owners instead of collecting them and leaving them to rot have to be done. There will probably be fewer people to take over fully damaged vehicles. But many vehicles involved in minor accidents and violations of the law are seen abandoned in the custody of the police. These are the vehicles that someone bought with great desire and hard-earned money. It is not right for it to get bogged down in laws and let them perish. If they do not benefit the owners, they should at least benefit the public exchequer. The Department of Transport and the Department of Home Affairs should think about what can be done about it.