Vehicles of livelihood

KOCHI: On the national highway at Paruthikuzhy, a rather unflattering pile of damaged and dismantled vehicles is not likely to attract attention. But the messy scarp is what marks a business functioning here for the past 10 years.Whenever government departments announce the auction of impounded vehicles, either M A Maheen Kannu or his friend K Chandrabhas would make sure they are present for the auction. And if they win, the next step is to get the vehicles to their shop. The vehicles, be it in good or bad condition, would be dismantled. The usable portions are sold as spare parts and other parts are sold as scrap.Maheen Kannu and seven of his companions have been engaged in vehicle dismantling for well over a decade now. Inside the makeshift tents on the nearly 10 cents of rented plot, one can see vehicle parts of two, three and four-wheelers gathered by them that are to be sold as spare parts.A majority of the vehicles with them are taken from auctions held in police stations. “We are not interested in selling the vehicles. There are chances for people to use it illegally and we do not want to answer the summons for such things,” says Maheen Kannu. He remembers buying a new Bajaj Pulsar with minor damages  at an auction with minor damages and that could be sold at an average price of ` 25,000 at that time. Still, hepreferred to dismantle the motorbike and sell it as part by part to be on the safer side. Whenever people face scarcity of parts of some rare or brand new vehicles, they would approach this wayside shop. The unassuming sellers also accept that sometimes they get more profit for rare spare parts.The items that are much in demand are the spare parts of two wheelers.“Carburetor, engine parts, light, tyre, and mudguard are sold off like hot cakes. The aluminium engine covers are sold for the worth of the metal,” says Chandrabhas. As it is difficult to find replacements forthe parts of motorbikes like Yezdi, Jawa and Enfield, a separate stack of these parts are maintained here. A similar system is in place for the parts of brand new vehicles too. The standing of so many years has garnered them a good clientele comprising people and workshop owners from various corners of the city. Sometimes, on demand, they also bring rare parts from Chennai for customers. They also have a small stock of old cars sold to them by individuals.Among the eight-member strong team, seven are relatives. Sayed Ali and Maheenkannu are the sons of Muhammad Abdul Khadar, who is also actively involved in the business. M Manaf, H Muneer, H Shajahan and K K Abdul Samad are other members.