Delhi bid to curb vehicle pollution

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday the measure would initially be introduced for only a few weeks, and could be withdrawn altogether if it proved problematic.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government also added that, initially, they intend to do a trial run for a fortnight from January 1 to 15. “If there are too many problems, it will be stopped”, he said at the HT Leadership Summit here.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain said the government will only allow emergency vehicles like PCR van, fire tenders, ambulances on the roads of the national capital. Are residents of all states across the country now expected to plan driving through the capital – even if they’re not stopping – according to their vehicle number?

“What rubbish! Does the government even understand why most of the people use private vehicles?” When asked how the government planned to get the police on board especially since it has expressed scepticism about the idea, Jain said, “Police’s work is to implement laws and government’s job is to frame laws”. The chief minister said Euro 6 emission norms will be implemented in Delhi from 2017 as against Centre’s plan to make it mandatory from 2019.

The World Health Organization said last year India had 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, and poor air caused hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year.

It has been found that Delhi has cars more than Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai combined while on an average almost 1000 cars add up every day to the cluttered Delhi roads.

“We need public participation for this initiative to succeed”, he said.

Maken further said, “He had said he won’t do politics, but made a political party and did politics”.

Dubai where vehicle density is at 540 per 1,000 people, it has identified and considered within its studies a number of travel demand management measures and transportation policies including even-odd plate numbers.

A decision to ration road space was announced on Friday by the Delhi government after the Delhi High Court warned that the capital was becoming a virtual gas chamber.

Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today virtually endorsed the Delhi government’s decision to allow plying of private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers on alternate days to lower pollution levels, saying it can be followed “if it helps in reducing” the problem.

There’s no question that desperate measures will be needed to combat Delhi’s pollution crisis.