The chief minister?s move to prevent goods vehicles from entering the city in a bid to reduce pollution and traffic congestion has been a non-starter.

And nothing illustrates the point more forcefully than the state of the Dhulagarh truck terminal, at the Kona Expressway-Bombay Road crossing.

The authorities had estimated that at least 500 vehicles would be parked at the terminal daily. Instead, only 25 to 30 vehicles are parked there.

According to officials, 20,000 trucks enter the city through Bombay Road. The rules stipulate that no truck will be allowed in between 9 am and 9 pm.

But a large number of vehicles flout the rules and enter the city by bribing police and musclemen. A sizeable number of vehicles are parked on either side of the highway, too.

Because of the poor turnout at the Dhulagarh terminal, the eateries, petrol pumps, shops and hotels that have come up in the vicinity are closing down.

Faced with mounting losses, managing director of Dhulagarh Truck Terminal Ltd Ramratan Chowdhury has sent an SOS to the chief minister, seeking his intervention to save the project.

?The entire investment will go down the drain if the government does not force the truckers to park in the terminal,? Chowdhury said on Sunday. ?Besides, the idea behind setting up truck terminals ? to ease Calcutta?s traffic congestion and reduce pollution ? will be defeated if the government does not enforce the ban on entry of trucks into the city.?

If effective steps are not taken, he warned, no one would show any interest in setting up terminals at Kona and Baranagar.

Officials at Writers? Buildings said the chief minister had asked the home secretary to look into the matter.

When contacted, home secretary Amit Kiran Deb said: ?I shall call a meeting with the terminal promoter, truck operators, and officials of the Howrah administration, transport department and Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC).?

The Dhulagarh terminal, spread over 70 acres, has space for 1,000 trucks and 1,500 small and medium-sized goods vehicles. The Rs 100-crore project was implemented jointly by the TIDC and a private partner.

Inaugurating the terminal on July 3, 2004, the chief minister had announced the government?s plan to build more truck terminals at various entry points of the city.