The West Bengal government's ban on cycles in Kolkata will affect thousands, including milkmen and courier boys
Till now, the loudest protests against the ban on bicycles in Kolkata came from the environmentally conscious. But now hundreds of milkmen have joined in. For them, the ban is proving to be a nightmare - police harassment and curdled milk.
"Police stops us, fines us with Rs 110... torture us... we are poor people. What can we do?" said Murtaza, who carries milk from the Jorasanko Milk Market in north Kolkata to places like Alipore in the south.
The market deals with 2.5 lakh kilos of milk every day and depends on 2,000 men to get it delivered to homes and shops across the city.
"If cycles are not allowed, we won't be able to run our business... if it shuts down, it will be a loss for about 50,000 people," said Amit Sinha, the market's manager.
Apart from those in the milk trade, courier boys, newspaper boys and nearly 20,000 cycle vans that deliver goods across the city will be affected, courtesy the ban. Activists peg the number of people, who are dependent on cycles and non-motorised transport for a living, at about 10 lakh. If the ban continues, thousands will be out of work.
Earlier, 38 city streets were closed to cycles. In September, that number was increased by over four times.
The government and police argue that non-motorised transport slows down traffic. Kolkata crawls at 14 to 18 kms an hour, much less than the national average of 22 kms.
"Kolkata's streets are already very narrow," said Dilip Adak, Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police in charge of traffic, adding "banning cycles was the only way out."
But the movement against the ban is gathering steam. Signatures are being collected for a petition to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. If that doesn't work, cycle lovers may even go to court.
"The Mamata Banerjee government is pro-poor. They have supported cycle vans and handcarts in the past and we hope they will do so again," said Ekta Kothari from Switch On, an NGO.
That should certainly cut ice with Ms Banerjee. Otherwise, can the chief minister afford the opprobrium of making Kolkata a city with good traffic speed but no place for the poor who are hit hardest by the ban?