Thaindian News

Kolkata, July 7 (IANS) The West Bengal government Tuesday expressed its determination to implement a court order to phase out all commercial vehicles that are more than 15 years old from Kolkata and its adjoining areas by July 31.
“We will abide by the court order and are determined to meet the July 31 deadline. The old vehicles will go off the road,” state Transport Minister Subhash Chakrbarty said.

He said the state would crack down on these vehicles if found on roads from Aug 1.

“We will implement the high court order and if there is any violation, we will seize those vehicles and arrest the operators,” Chakraborty added.

Referring to the bus accident in Kolkata’s twin district Howrah that took 14 lives Saturday, the minister said people were killed because the two buses were racing with each other.

“The government plans to give monthly salaries to the bus drivers and conductors instead of commission to stop reckless competition on the roads,” he said.

The Calcutta High Court issued an order July last year to ban commercial vehicles registered before Jan 1, 1993, from Kolkata and its outskirts. It said the order should be implemented by Dec 31, 2008, in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), which includes parts of north and south 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.

Later, the ban was deferred till July 31 following a plea by the state government.