The process of phasing out old and run-down state buses in the city and replacing them with new-look Bharat Stage II vehicles has started gathering momentum.

?We have phased out 150 buses last month and identified another 200 to be withdrawn from the roads by this month-end. All these buses were in such a dilapidated condition that they could not be put back on the road after minor repairs,? said Ashok Bhattacharya, managing director of Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC). ?Besides, they had failed to meet the emission norms.?

Failing to get funds from the government, the CSTC has taken a loan of Rs 27 crore for buying new buses. ?We have taken a loan from a nationalised bank for purchasing the new buses. Over 100 of them have already been pressed into service and another 150 will be on the road before the Pujas 2005,?? Bhattacharya said.

Besides, the state government is lobbying at the Centre to get financial assistance from the World Bank for purchasing 300 new buses.

Though the new auto emission norms came into effect in October 2004, the transport department is continuing to ply old and polluting vehicles even now. The CSTC plies a total of about 450 buses on different routes in the city, most of which are 10 to 15 years old. This, when the average life of a state bus has been fixed at eight years.

Bhattacharya, however, held out an assurance that the CSTC would replace all the polluting buses in a phased manner. The new buses have been designed with the passengers? comfort and safety in mind. The bus bodies will be painted red, and the front in white, he added.

Post-October 2004, the public vehicles department (PVD) has denied renewal of permits and certificates of fitness (CF) to hundreds of private buses and taxis for not conforming to the new emission norms, but no steps were taken against the polluting state buses.

Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty had cited a funds crunch for the government?s inability to replace the old fleet at one go.

?We are not allowing private buses to ply on grounds of non-conformity to the emission norms. So, we should also not ply our own buses that don?t adhere to them. We are conducting regular emission tests and phasing out state buses that do not meet the standards. These vehicles, however, may be plied in the districts,? an official said.