India, March 11 -- Maharashtra's first Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Tardeo, spread over six acres, is being flattened to make way for a modern building, with Mumbai Metropolitan Region's (MMR) first automated test tracks for applicants of four- and two-wheelers.

The British built the barracks here to house stabled horses in the late 1850s for the police force as well as those used for racing at the race course in Mumbai Central, which was shifted to Mahalaxmi in the early 1880s.

The building was transferred to the RTO in 1940, by which time horses were not used for policing and a majority were replaced by motor vehicles.

The Tardeo RTO, where MH-01 vehicles are registered, is one of the oldest RTO offices in India. Work on its re...