Again, about 70 per cent of the autos run on illegally converted diesel engines, some 20 per cent on company fitted diesel engines and the rest onpetrol.

An autorickshaw driver, on condition of anonymity, said 50 per cent of the autorickshaws plying in the township either do not have road permits or their permits have expired. This is specially those who have been running their autos on converted diesel engines, he said, adding that of the 500 autos running in Mohali, not more than 100 possess the requisite valid documents. A majority of them do not even have licences and in most cases, the pollution control certificate or registration papers are also missing.

And that is not all. There seems to be total anarchy. Mohali residents allege that most of the autos overcharge. "They charge what they feel like, not sticking to any set pattern," says H.S. Cheema of Phase VII. Besides, only Chandigarh-numbered autos have a metre fitted in them, which mostly remains out of order. The Punjab, Delhi and Himachal-numbered autos do not have any metre at all.

Besides, these vehicles often violate the overloading rules also. As per the Motor Vehicles Act, the autos can carry only three persons including the driver, but the rule is flouted with impunity with the autorickshaws sometimes stuffing 10 passengers in one vehicle.

"There is absolutely no check on the amount of pollution these vehicles create," says Inderjeet Singh, a Phase X resident. Interestingly, there are only two pollution-checking machines installed in the township one at the Phase III-A petrol pump and the other at the Phase VI petrol pump. "And on paying Rs 25, one can get a PUC certificate even without having to get the vehicle there," an auto-driver said on condition of anonymity.

Auto-drivers, however, say the metres installed in their vehicles are more than 10 years old and the surcharge per killometer fixed then not viable in the present scenario. "If the government reworks the surcharge, we are ready to charge by the metres," Raj Kumar, an auto-driver, said. Refuting that autos are a major source of pollution, he said heavy vehicles are a greater nuisance on the road. The drivers say the police don't harass them if they are paid regularly. "The police ask for Rs 50 per month per auto for not troubling us," an auto-driver said. In the last two months, the local police have challaned only about 45 autorickshaws for various violations. S.A.S. Nagar Superintendent of Police B.S. Randhawa, however, refuted the charge and maintained that the police check the vehicles regularly and challan all violators. He promised immediate action if any case of a policeman taking bribe from auto-drivers was brought to his notice.

Sub-Divisonal-Magistrate O.P. Popli said he was helpless as he could not take any action under the Motor Vehicles Act, "but I have instructed the traffic police to challan the violators."

Roopnagar District Transport Officer Satish Bhatia, when contacted, said the autorickshaws which had originally fitted petrol engines and had petrol engine numbers written in the registration copy but had later converted it to diesel are all illegal and cannot ply here or even get a route permit. However, he promised stern action against violators.