LUCKNOW, Sept. 2 -- Lucknow to get its first dedicated detention cum dumping yard for vehicles seized by the transport department soon, with the facility at Ahmamau now ready and awaiting a technical inspection before being handed over to the department. Built at a cost of around Rs.2.55 crore, the facility can accommodate 237 vehicles, 136 light vehicles, 15 heavy vehicles and 86 two wheelers. Once operational, it is expected to provide transport enforcement teams with a dedicated space to keep vehicles detained during enforcement drives. The facility assumes significance as the department currently faces a shortage of space for detained vehicles. Such vehicles are often kept at police stations, existing yards or other available open spaces, putting pressure on police premises and, in some cases, affecting traffic arrangements. Additional transport commissioner (enforcement) KD Singh Gaur said the Ahmamau facility would help the department systematically accommodate vehicles detained during enforcement action. The need for additional detention space is underscored by enforcement figures. In the current financial year, Lucknow's transport enforcement teams have so far challaned 5,628 vehicles and detained 491. Officials said the availability of a dedicated yard would allow enforcement teams to detain vehicles more readily instead of releasing them after issuing challans because of inadequate parking space. The yard has been constructed on 83,958 sq ft of land in Ahmamau, which was temporarily made available by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation for parking vehicles detained by the transport department. The construction, including the main building, guard room and boundary wall, has been completed. The executing agency informed the department on August 21 that all works had been finished. The facility is now awaiting inspection by a technical committee comprising engineers from the Public Works Department, Rural Engineering Department and Irrigation Department, among others. The committee will inspect the site and submit its report, following which the handover process will be completed. The department is expected to start using the facility soon thereafter. The new facility is also expected to streamline arrangements at P-4 parking and Kalli yard in the PGI area, where detained vehicles are currently kept. Vehicles from these locations may be shifted to Ahmamau as required, reducing the number of places where seized vehicles are stored and creating a centralised arrangement. Officials said the facility would not only strengthen transport enforcement but also help reduce the accumulation of detained vehicles....