Two-stroke autos ply in Kolkata despite court ban

A COURT directive to stop polluting two stroke autorickshaws from plying on Kolkata roads has been rendered ineffective by the state government.
The Calcutta High Court order dated July 18, 2008, to ban two-stroke autos by December 2008 was based on a notification issued by the state environment department. The state government however backed out when auto drivers took to the streets in the first week of January and held violent protests.
The court in its order had also asked the government to ensure that only four-stroke autos running on liquefied petroleum gas (lpg), a cleaner fuel, should be allowed to ply. About 68,000 two-stroke autos, including 30,000 unregistered autos, ply in Kolkata. Most of them use adulterated fuel, dubbed katatel, which is a mixture of petrol, kerosene and naphtha. This contributes to the city