Some 70 of them are owned by none other than Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), one of the government agencies responsible for taking care of the environment in the city.

The CCC runs two-stroke autorickshaws disregarding the restriction on their movement inside the metropolitan area to carry its officials.

The government has stopped registration of such petrol-run autorickshaws to restrict their movement within the metropolitan areas as they caused massive air pollution.

The CCC-owned two-stroke autorickshaws also do not have any fitness certificate or route permit as well.

All painted in blue, these three-wheelers ply with certificate that reads "These vehicles run under special arrangements having all necessary documents preserved with the concerned department of the CCC."

The certificate bears the signature of Abul Hasnat, former executive engineer (Mechanical) of the CCC.

"Beside causing air pollution, these are also raising our fuel cost and hampering our movement," said the concerned CCC officials who use the three-wheelers with two-stroke engine.

"Our movement is restricted due to these vehicles for which we are allocated fixed and little quantity of petrol on daily basis," said a CCC engineer on condition of anonymity, adding, "Whereas a single cylinder of CNG could have enabled us to travel as much as required."

He, however, feared that a sudden withdrawal of these autorickshaws without procuring CNG-run ones would only increase the transportation problem.

There is allegation that the CCC did not take any initiative so far to replace the two-stroke autorickshaws which provide scope for pilfering fuel by a section of dishonest officials and staffs of the CCC.

No senior officials including the chief executive officer, chief engineer or secretary could be contacted for comments in this regard.

CCC Public Relations Officer Saifuddin Ahmed said, "Most of the CCC vehicles are CNG-run excepting some 40 petrol-run autorickshaws."

"As these autorickshaws could neither be sold out nor left unused, the CCC is using them only during the office hours," he added.

"The CCC has been trying to replace them, but could not do so due to fund constraint," he claimed.

According to sources concerned, the CCC has five jeeps, 12 private cars, three microbuses, 70 petrol-run autorickshaws and 13 CNG-run autorickshaws providing transport service to its officials as per ranks.

But different CCC officials have given different information regarding the number of these autorickshaws and the quantity of fuel used for these vehicles.

Executive Engineer (Mechanical) Abdul Malek, in-charge of CCC vehicles, said they have 69 three-wheelers including 23 petrol-run ones, each having an allocation of three to four litres of petrol a day.

Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) Fazlul Quader, who is also an officer of the transport pool, put the number of three-wheelers at 87.

He said around half of these three-wheelers are CNG-run while the rest are petrol-run with an allocation of 180 litres petrol a day.

Meanwhile, officials of Bangladesh Road and Transport Authority (BRTA), Traffic Department of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) and Department of Environment (DoE) here have expressed their ignorance on the matter.

They also could not say anything about the number of petrol-run autorickshaws plying the city streets at present.

When asked, BRTA Assistant Director Sheikh Ataullah Chowdhury said as far as he knew, local BRTA office did not receive any official order imposing ban on the plying of petrol-run autorickshaws in the port city.

"But they automatically went off the road in a race with the CNG-run ones," he observed.

"We have not been giving registration for such vehicles for plying in the city since 2001," said Ataullah, adding that no two-stroke autorickshaws came to them for renewal of route permits in the last six years, and if comes they won't renew the permit.

Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) Md Ali Miah of CMP said they could not detect any petrol-run autorickshaw plying the city streets since long and the traffic department was sure to take strict measures like seizure and legal suit against them if there was any.

As attention was drawn to CCC-owned ones, the DC referred this correspondent to Traffic Inspector Abhijit who also expressed his ignorance on the existence of the two-stroke three-wheelers here.

"It is also beyond my knowledge if the ban was applicable for the vehicles owned by a government organisation like the CCC," he added.

In this regard, Director Nazmul Haq said the environment department also could take measures like conducting mobile court and filing case against such vehicles that defied ban.

He, however, could not say whether his department had taken any measure in this regard or had any record of petrol-run autorickshaws that might ply the city streets as he took the office just on last Sunday, the day he talked to The Daily Star.