Air pollution restrictions spoilt my Saturday

Today I was supposed to go to the centre of Kolkata with my two colleagues and see some of the major sights such as Victoria Memorial. I was really looking forward to it. However, our plans were cancelled due to a taxi strike. The whole strike is due to an action to improve air quality and it has been written a lot about in the newspapers. The story is that the "Calcutta High Court directed that all auto-rickshaws, irrespective of their date of registration, will have to convert to either compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)" from 1st Jan 2009. This has been protested against because "around 80,000 auto-rickshaws, 24,000 taxis and over 8,000 buses and mini-buses would be affected by the implementation of the court order."

"Auto drivers at Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata’s Bhowanipore area refused to show registration documents of their vehicles and started protesting when the police tried to seize five two-stroke auto-rickshaws. Trinamool Congress immediately called a 12-hour auto-rickshaw and taxi strike in the city Saturday."
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/kolkata-auto-rickshaw-drivers-protest-ban-trinamool-calls-strike-lead_100137660.html

Well due to all this, I had to spend yet another day just in Salt Lake City district! :( I've been then at City Centre (it's the only place where there is some action), read articles, watched programmes my brother downloaded me on my iPod and now came to the cyber cafe. Not sure if it's smart to go tomorrow either to Kolkata centre if it is a bit restless at the moment. There was a rally today in the centre. Sorry if you're confused with the names. City Centre is the mall next door, all other names with small letters mean the centre of Kolkata city. Confusing, eh.

Hopefully I'll make it by taxi to WWF-India on Monday or then I'll really start crying! I'm really waiting for my husband to come here. Then I'll have company and won't have to worry about roaming alone in the dark. I'm still scared to death by the traffic here. When going to City Centre or to the office there is one busy road to cross on either way. My heart's almost jumping everytime, cos these people drive like mad. They use rather their horn than their brakes! I asked Kaarle to bring some reflectors with him, just to improve safety a bit.

Well get back to you later. Regards from here!