Kolkata, August 01: With the state government keen to implement the ban on polluting vehicles from August 1, the auto unions have decided not to go on a strike against the order.
“We will run our autos tomorrow and face the consequences. If the police wants to confiscate our vehicles, we will request them not to do so,” said Bitan Haldar, secretary, Trinamool’s auto union. The auto drivers will also hold demonstrations at various places on Saturday.
So far only 1,540 autos in the city use the LPG mode and according to the Public Vehicles Department (PVD) nearly 3,551 autos have applied for a conversion to the LPG mode.
“The conversion will take time as to apply for loans, they need to clear up their outstanding loans and finish all the paperwork,” said a senior official.
Officials said the autos that have applied for a switchover to the LPG will be spared tomorrow. “But nearly 8,485 autos have not applied for the conversion and will be impounded by the police,” said the official.
Kishor Ghosh, secretary, CPM’s auto union, said they would not support the drivers, who have not applied for the conversion.
“They had a lot of time to switch over to the LPG mode and should have done so by now,” he said. Sources said Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee had requested the party’s auto union not to go on a strike from tomorrow.
Ashish Chakrabarty, the lawyer for Kolkata Auto-rickshaw Operators Union, said they have approached the transport secretary and asked the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices in Kolkata, North and South 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Nadia to rectify the notices that they have sent to the auto-drivers.
“The HC notice said two-stroke autos should be converted to four-stroke but RTA has asked the auto-drivers to replace all autos. There is a difference between replacement and conversion and we want the notices to be rectified,” said Chakrabarty.
-Agencies