Flaunting flags of opposing political parties, autorickshaws line up for passengers at the Gariahat crossing on New Year’s Day. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, Jan. 1: Six two-stroke autorickshaws were seized in Calcutta on the first day of the ban imposed by Calcutta High Court.

What about the remaining 66,964 poison-belchers?

Many continued to spit toxic fumes into the air Calcutta breathes because police are still working on a “concerted plan”.

More important, such autos have the blessings of a higher power.

“We don’t care about the ban,” said Raju Saha, who brought out his two-stroke auto, defying the high court order.

“Our leaders have told us that nothing will happen to us,” the resident of Gouribari in north Calcutta said, pointing to the red flag tied to his seven-year-old auto.

Mohammed Ghulam exuded similar confidence, though the flag on his auto was of a different colour. Ghulam, whose route extends from Park Circus to Topsia, is a Trinamul Congress supporter.

Bengal’s politics of division — the reason behind the exit of Nano that would have helped many find legitimate livelihood — has given way to a united front to protect what has from today become an illegal vocation.

Two-stroke autos plied with impunity on city roads in violation of the court order banning them from January 1.

“We do everything for the party and this is the least the party can do for us…. We just cannot sit at home and lose our livelihood because of a court order,” Saha said.

The livelihood — illegal or not — of Saha and Ghulam is crucial for transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, Trinamul leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who is the face of the fledgling Auto Bachao Committee, Pragatishil Indira Congress leader Somen Mitra and the Congress’s Subrata Mukherjee, said environment activist Subhash Dutta.

“The parties need cadres to make a rally successful or use them during polls. The auto operators provide a ready pool of foot soldiers and so the political masters have never antagonised them,” Dutta said.

Besides, each of the 67,000 autos — 37,000 registered and 30,000 unregistered — pay between Rs 5 and Rs 10 every day to the Citu union under which they are organised. This means, Citu earns anything between Rs 3.35 lakh and Rs 6.7 lakh daily from the autos.

What has now become a health hazard was born out of helplessness of the political establishment that could not meet the aspirations of the people. Autos mushroomed in the late 1970s when unemployment in urban Bengal was spiralling and the public transport system in Calcutta was creaking under increasing passenger load.

From the very beginning, assured of political patronage, the auto operators started flouting norms. “They never plied with meters. In gross violation of the contract carriage permit, more and more auto routes were created. Neither the police nor the public vehicles department took any action as the auto operators had Citu patronage,” said Ashok Ghosh, the general secretary of the UTUC, the trade union wing of the RSP.

Ghosh said the authorities turned a blind eye when discarded autos were imported from Delhi and Mumbai and were launched on city streets without permits.

“We want a complete ban on autos plying without papers,” said Subhash Mukherjee, joint secretary of the Citu-affiliated Road Transport Workers’ Federation. He agreed that unionisation of the auto operators did not serve the purpose of disciplining the sector.

But it served a political purpose — a quick-fix solution to joblessness and a captive pool of cadres. Estimates by unions put the number of people dependent on autos at 3 lakh.

Ghulam, a school dropout, said driving an auto was one of the easiest options for him to supplement the family’s income. “I didn’t have the skills to get a proper job,” he said.

But Ghulam did not pause to wonder why he missed out on acquiring the skills for gainful employment.

“That is the biggest failure of the government and the political system. Now they are talking about livelihood and in the process compromising the health of so many million people,” Dutta pointed out.