Odd-even kicks in as Delhi gasps under choking smog

Odd-numbered private cars will ply on odd dates and those with even number plates will ply on even days. So on Monday(November 4), only private cars having registration numbers ending with 0,2,4,6,8 will be allowed to ply on Delhi roads

The third edition of the odd-even road rationing drive kicked in on Monday as Delhi grapples with emergency levels of pollution. As part of the scheme, odd-numbered private cars will ply on odd dates and those with even number plates will ply on even days. So on Monday(November 4), only private cars having registration numbers ending with 0,2,4,6,8 will be allowed to ply on Delhi roads as the drive kicks in from 8am to 8pm.

Vehicles move along the Noida Link Road near Mayur Vihar Phase – I, which remains engulfed in thick smog, in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. (Mohd Zakir/HT PHOTO)

The drive, which exempts two-wheelers and cars driven by women or carrying only women passengers and vehicles carrying school children, will continue till November 15, barring Sundays.

All private petrol, diesel, CNG and hybrid cars of Delhi and those entering the city with registration numbers of other states will mandatorily follow the odd-even rule.

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Only CNG-fuelled commercial vehicles such as auto-rickshaws, taxis, trucks, buses, tempos and gramin sewas will be allowed to ply during the 12-day arrangement.

On the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Delhi government on Sunday evening decided to exempt private electric vehicles from the drive.

Violators will be fined Rs 4,000. The government said a violator will be fined only once a day by the enforcing agencies, which include traffic police, SDMs, tehsildars, transport department and assistant traffic inspectors.

On Sunday as Delhi’s air quality touched hazardous levels, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal urged people to follow the odd-even drive to curb local sources of pollution.

“We are rolling out the odd-even scheme from tomorrow. Follow this for yourself, for your children and for the two crore families living in Delhi, not for me. I, my other cabinet colleagues and officers in Delhi government will also participate in the drive,” Kejriwal said in a video message.

To encourage people, especially office-goers, to pool vehicles during the drive, the CM said he will come to work with other ministers of the Delhi government. “You all also pool cars with your friends and colleagues,” he said.

Various studies have found vehicular emissions contribute anywhere between 20 and 30% to Delhi’s air pollution.

METRO, BUSES, TAXIS AND AUTOS AVAILABLE: NO SURGE PRICING

The government has estimated around 1.2 million of over 11 million registered vehicles in Delhi will be off the city’s roads every day during the drive. If one add vehicles coming from neighbouring cities, the government has pegged the number of cars that will be off the road at around 2 million.

To support the extra passenger load, Delhi Metro said it would conduct 61 additional trips every day, increasing the total daily trips to 5,100 trips through 294 trains.

Till 7pm on Sunday, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) managed to get over 837 private CNG buses against its target of 2,000. The transport department received another 100 cluster buses, in addition to the 129 buses added last week, taking the fleet of Delhi’s state-run buses to 5,658. For women, travel will be free in buses.

Cab aggregators such as Ola and Uber said there would be no surge pricing during the 12-day drive. The 95,000 registered auto-rickshaws in Delhi have been asked by the government not to overcharge or deny rides.

ENFORCEMENT

The government will engage 5,000 civil defence volunteers for which they were given a day-long training on Sunday. Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said these volunteers will be deployed with placards at major traffic intersections and Delhi’s borders to inform motorists about the scheme.

“On the first day, enforcement agencies have been asked to mostly make people aware of the drive and send back vehicles violating the rule. Vehicles returning after dropping children at schools will be allowed on a trust basis. In such cases, school timings will be kept in mind. Vehicles carrying patients will be handled on a trust basis,” he said.

The government will deploy at least 20 teams of photographers and videographers to keep documentary evidence of violators as fine for violation is twice the amount imposed in the last two drives in 2016.

“Apart from Delhi police, the state transport department will deploy 400 enforcement/challan teams (200 teams per shift) at 200 identified intersections. 120 teams consisting of three persons each will be made available from the enforcement wing of the department. 280 officers of the rank of ATI and above will be made available by DTC. Two civil defence volunteers (CDVs) will be attached with each ATI to form one team. In all, 600 CDVs will be made available to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC),” a senior government official said.

DELHI GOVT OFFICE TIMINGS STAGGERED

As many as 42 agencies, including Delhi government departments, municipal corporations and the state election commission, will have staggered office timings from Monday.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said on Friday the staggering timings is being implemented as an experiment and so will not be applicable to private companies.

According to a government order, working hours of a total of 42 government offices have been staggered, with 21 having office timings from 10.30am to 7pm and the rest from 9.30am to 6pm. Only government offices located in ITO and Civil Lines will follow the new timings.

Departments, such as the zonal offices of municipal corporations, transport, directorate of education, higher education, irrigation and flood control, state election commission, information and publicity, excise and urban development will open at 10.30am.