Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has urged police stations to remove the condemned vehicles that have been lying in front of them for a long period of time.

“A good number of vehicles involved in accidents or crime have been lying abandoned in front of some of the police stations in the city. These vehicles can turn out to be the breeding ground for mosquitoes that will encourage diseases like dengue and malaria as water will accumulate in them particularly with the onset of monsoon,” a top official of KMC’s health department said.

The KMC started awareness against dengue from the month of January, after delivering a warning that the global climate change may trigger more dengue cases this year. “We have made a list of the vehicles that are lying abandoned in front of police stations. We have already started the process of issuing notices for taking suitable steps. The same process is being followed even for government offices, buildings, and also institutions,” mayor in council (health ) Atin Ghosh said.  

The civic body is following the process of issuing notices for a certain period of time and then following it up with a second notice, allowing a certain amount of time.

“If there is non compliance after back to back notices, we will initiate a case as per the law against the offender,” a senior official said.

He further said that the police administration has often cited lack of space behind keeping the vehicles in front of the police stations. “However, this time we are pressing upon them to make necessary arrangements and also keeping a close watch at these vehicles,” he added.