Calcutta, April 30 :     Spurred on by the Supreme Court order on auto emission norms, non-government organisations here today said they would soon move the high court for a similar verdict. Yesterday, the Supreme Court clamped a ban on registration of private non-commercial vehicles in Delhi from June 1 if they do not conform to Euro I emission norms and Euro II by April 2000. None of the Maruti, Hindustan Motors and PAL models meets Euro I norms. Only Mercedes Benz and Matiz conform to Euro II norms. City-based NGO Public, however, said the order is like a breath of fresh air. Pradeep Kakkar of Public stressed: ?We are discussing the issue and should approach the court soon. It does not make sense if the order is applicable in one city and not the others.? Kakkar pointed out that auto manufacturers spend a lot of money honing a car?s looks, its airconditioning and other trappings. ?Pollution always takes a backseat. It is time they did something about it,? he added. A.V. Iyengar of Concern for Calcutta said his organisation supports the issue. ?I feel, in the long run, the order is very good,? he stressed. Calcutta Police, whose track record in checking car pollution has been dismal, surprised everyone by saying they too hoped the order will extend to the city soon. Several attempts to introduce laws to minimise pollution have repeatedly been stonewalled. The proposal to let cars with odd numbers ply on one day and even numbers on another has never proceeded beyond the drawing board stage; the plan to phase out vehicles that are more than 15 years old has been gathering dust at Writers? Buildings. But statistics show that if the Supreme Court?s order is implemented in the city, Calcutta would be a far cleaner place to live in. According to joint commissioner of police, traffic, V.V. Thambi, at least 70 per cent of the 6.7 lakh non-commercial private vehicles violate pollution norms. If anything, chief minister Jyoti Basu believes that the court order is a ?good thing?. The state government will implement it in earnest if it is passed here, he said. His environment minister Manab Mukherjee, however, was confused about what Euro norms were all about. ?We have to go into the manufacturing aspect. Every car should have uniform engines,? he said enigmatically. But he left unanswered the question on how he intends to do this to the government?s fleet of Ambassador cars, including that of the chief minister, that do not even adhere to Euro I norms. But Calcuttans seemed more concerned about the state of environment than the administration. Euro norms would be expensive, but breathing in the city would be easier if implemented, they feel. Former Indian tennis captain Naresh Kumar said: ?The question for Calcutta is how soon the Euro stipulations will be applied ... we can?t go on polluting. There will be hardships for those who can?t afford Euro II...but our chaps are innovative. They can improvise. It will have to be done.? Industrialist Harsh Neotia feels the economics of the order will have to be analysed. ?One must ask whether it will be possible for a developing country to afford these sophisticated pollution control measures. If the Euro measures can be made affordable, then who won?t agree to a cleaner environment??? Neotia added. Another industrialist, Aditya Khaitan, pointed out that the order is good in theory, but could be a trifle difficult to implement so quickly. Taxis in the city violate every pollution norm, so it was hardly surprising that the Bengal Taxi Association president Kalyan Bhadra, frowned at the order. ?Instead of talking about Euro norms, they should first provide clean petrol because that can check pollution. Euro norms are costly,? he argued. But the consensus was that the handful of car owners in the city should not hold the large majority of Calcuttans to ransom by making them breathe dirty air.