Garages ready to tackle floods

Car owners in the city need not fear the rains this year round. They may not have to wait in long queues to get their vehicles back on the roads from the service centres as garages across the city have made provisions for additional repair facilities.

Car workshops in Mumbai seem ready to tackle any possible eventuality during the monsoon. Though they say that showers like the one on July 26 last year are not expected, they are taking no chances.

With no experience in handling repair cases in such extraordinary bulk as July 26 last year offered, auto service centres and various workshops had run short of spare parts. Limited workforce added to the problems.

As a result, it took more than a month to damaged vehicles back on the road. "Lack of spare parts was the main concern last year. Though so far we have not got any instructions from companies, on our level we have started preparation to ensure the availability of motor parts," said Imtiyaaz Syed, general manager, Maruti workshop, Goregaon.

"We won't have shortage of spare parts this year. We are equipped to provide spares within 24 hours," said Ramesh Ghare, general manager, Om Sai Motors (Tata Motors), Kandivli.

He added that the workshop has got enough space for at least 15-20 additional vehicles.

In the absence of adequate parking lots for damaged cars, roads outside workshops could see long queues of vehicles. Workshop owners say that alternative arrangement for space is being taken care of.

"We cannot create infrastructure for short-time business, but as far as land (for parking additional vehicles) is concerned, it can easily be made available on lease if the need arises," said Ghare.

A service centre at Thane is also gearing up for the floods.. "We are mentally prepared. Last year we were completely taken aback with the kind of demand which we were not used to," said Vikram Modi, director, Modi Hyundai, Thane.

The centre has made arrangement for spare parts. "Most of the spare parts are available with us. The company too has good stocks," Modi said.

He added, "We have made a stock of certain motor parts which are very much flood prone "� especially the easily vulnerable electronic parts." At the same time, Modi said that the centre has enough space to park 125-150 cars.