Red light Taxis: 24,000-plus Buses: 8,400-plus

State’s auto stats • Registered 2-stroke autorickshaws: 12,960 • Registered 4-stroke autorickshaws: 1,644 • Applied for replacement: 3,000 (according to PVD) • Raids with PVD against unregistered autorickshaws in 2008: 320 seizures • Raids by Calcutta traffic police against unregistered autorickshaws in 2008: 63 seizures • Seizures from January 1 to 6: 75 Source: Advocate-general’s submission in the high court (does not cover all autos in greater Calcutta)

The government on Friday placed before Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh of the high court a timetable for the phasing out of polluting vehicles and the tools to make it happen.

Metro, which has a copy of the proposal placed by advocate-general Balai Ray, puts it under the scanner.

PREMISE: Till the end of December 2008, 11,900 applications from two-stroke autos were received.

Oil companies have indicated that the number of LPG outlets will be increased to 21 (from 12 fully functioning ones) by March 31. Bajal Auto Ltd has said it can supply 3,000 four-stroke single-mode LPG autos per month.

ROADMAP: The 11,900 applications for replacement of two-stroke autos by four-stroke single-mode LPG autos received up to December 31 will be processed for bank sanction by March 15, 2009.

RIDER: If the government starts from Monday, January 12, it will have to process 290 applications per working day between now and March 15. Nothing that the government has done till now suggests it is capable of achieving this strike rate.

ROADMAP: The supply of the new four-stroke LPG autos would be arranged within a few days of the bank sanction. At the same time the two-stroke would be seized and the engine destroyed.

RIDER: Seized and destroyed are terms that have repeatedly been used by the transport minister in the past few months. All that the government machinery has to show for the bluster are “458 seizures” in 12 months.

ROADMAP: The substitution in respect of all sanctioned cases out of the 11,900 applications would be completed by July 15, 2009.

RIDER: The government says it needs six months for this; so why did it not do the needful from July 18, 2008 to December 31, instead of now and July 15, 2009?

ROADMAP: January 31, 2009 will be the last date for application for replacement under the scheme. The autos not under the scheme will not be allowed to run.

RIDER: The government has smartly pushed back the November 28, 2008 deadline for receiving such applications to January 31, 2009.

ROADMAP: The applications received in January 2009 will be processed for sanction by the banks in time so that replacement can start immediately, after the replacement of earlier applications is done.

RIDER: The door for further delays is already opening up with replacement of earlier applications bound to take more time.

ROADMAP: In the interest of the smooth implementation of the auto replacement programme, transport vehicles more than 15 years old would be banned from June 30, 2009 instead of March 31, 2009.

RIDER: A government that has done nothing to phase out polluting autos in the last six months of 2008, promises to phase out the entire fleet of old commercial vehicles in the first six months of 2009. Why should we believe it?

How will the government monitor the process?

PROGRAMME: Air quality in different locations of Calcutta Metropolitan Area.

PROBLEM: The pollution control board has the mechanism in place but the government has never paid any attention to it.

PROGRAMME: Extent of adulteration from random samples of fuel in use.

PROBLEM: Who will do it and how, in the land of katatel and rigged emission centres?

PROGRAMME: Applications for replacement of two-stroke autos received and (bank) sanctioned, and number of autos replaced will be monitored monthly.

PROBLEM: Monthly monitoring will mean a slowdown; why not a daily mechanism?

PROGRAMME: Number of new LPG outlets opened to be monitored.

PROBLEM: Why did the government in 2004 set a target of 75 LPG outlets and manage to open only 12 since then?

PROGRAMME: LPG off-take to be monitored monthly.

PROBLEM: Why has the government been using LPG shortage as an excuse when the 12 LPG outlets have been 80 per cent underutilised?