National

West Bengal seeks time on two-stroke autos

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Friday sought before the Calcutta High Court time till July 31 for replacing two-stroke auto rickshaws with four-stroke LPG-powered three-wheelers to cut down on pollution.

The High Court had earlier ordered the withdrawal of all auto rickshaws in the city by December 31, 2008.

In response to the State government’s submission, a division Bench of the court comprising Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice P.C. Ghose directed the government to refrain from seizing licensed two-stroke three-wheelers till the next hearing but report to it the progress made to take necessary measures for replacing them.

A status report is to be submitted to the court for scrutiny every 15 days.

The Bench expressed its concern over the level of air pollution in the city and asked what the State government had done to comply with its order on July 18, 2008, to ban two-stroke auto rickshaws.

Later, the State’s Advocate-General, Balai Roy, who appeared on behalf of the State government, told journalists that the High Court had ordered for a phase-wise conversion of two-stroke auto rickshaws to four-stroke three-wheelers powered by LPG.

The State’s seeking more time comes in the wake of violent protests against its drive to seize the three-wheelers. Three State buses were set ablaze and a few more damaged in the city on January 3.

The State government submitted an ‘action taken report’ on the court’s directive to withdraw two-stroke three-wheelers.

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