Dependence on rashly-driven and overloaded tempos is set to reduce significantly with the state government deciding to deploy 300 city buses in Kanpur to strengthen the public transport in the city. The transport authority will simultaneously convert tempo permits into auto permits after the sanction of buses. Regional transport officer (RTO) VK Sonakia said chief secretary Javed Usmani sanctioned the scheme for deploying more city buses in Kanpur in the meeting held in Lucknow last week. The government has sanctioned some 300 buses for the city which will run under the control of special purpose team, constituted under divisional commissioner. The official said that it is expected that the sanctioned buses will arrive here by the end of the ongoing year. As soon as the buses arrive in the city, the transport authorities will change the tempo permit into one for plying autos. This will lower down the burden of vehicles on city roads and also reduce pollution. "Any tempo owner can get his/her tempo permit converted into an auto one. No extra charged will be demanded for this conversion," said SK Singh, additional regional transport officer (ARTO). The residents welcomed this decision of the transport authorities but also complained of mismanagement of city buses. "Shifting the tempos will not solve the purpose of traffic management in the city as even the city buses plied by transport department are mismanaged," said Sanjeev Srivastava, a resident of Shivalaya. The authorities of transport department along with traffic department are planning to impose 'No Tempo Zone' in the stretch between Rawatpur and Ramadevi. This 12-kilometer stretch suffers from heavy encroachment and is the only way to reach Jhakarkati bus stand and other prominent locations of the city. The authorities will also beautify this zone by broadening the dividers and deploying traffic booths. Encroachment drive will be launched to make the stretch encroachment-free. Bus stops are already available in this stretch, and the department only plans to maintain the same.