KOLKATA: Come Dec, the south-bound flank of EM Bypass, a few yards from the Orange line's Metro station at Metropolitan, will be wider, with two lanes added to the existing three-lane road.

Kolkata locals cherish their city's past, which is why many in the one-time Indian capital are mourning a vanishing emblem of its faded grandeur: a hulking and noisy fleet of stately yellow taxis.