Alarmed by the regular traffic snarls caused by the growing number of unauthorised autorickshaws, the Howrah administration is planning a crackdown on the vehicles.

?Talks are on with the police to finalise the modalities of the drives against illegal autos. We hope to start the raids very soon,? disclosed Sukumar Dutta, regional transport officer (RTO), Howrah.

A senior transport official revealed the shocking figures: ?Around 800 autos ply in the Howrah and Bally municipal areas. And every second one is illegal.?

Traffic jams, especially on GT Road, the transport lifeline of Howrah, is giving the administration sleepless nights. ?Autos are the prime cause of the hotchpotch on the roads here. The three-wheelers that do not have valid permits will not be allowed to ply any more,? asserted the transport official.

Apart from illegal autos, the transport department has another serious problem on hand ? that of duplicate registration number plates.

The problem came to light after a raid on July 20. It was found that a 10-wheeler truck didn?t have its papers in order. It was loaded with coal far exceeding the permissible limit.

?A casual check by the department?s enforcement sleuths revealed that an auto was plying with the same number plate as the truck,? RTO Dutta said.

A fake number plate not only amounts to revenue loss for the government, but is also a cause for concern for businessmen. ?A trader would never know how to trace a truck loaded with his goods if its number plate is false,? Dutta explained.

The only way to curb the menace, Dutta says, is to increase the number of raids from the 20 that the transport department currently conducts every month, especially on a 45-km stretch of National Highway 6 and a six-km stretch of Kona Expressway.