Odd-even formula: Jams up, challans down on Day 4

Day four of the odd-even trial run saw massive jams across the city with many commuters complaining they were stuck for hours.

Day four of the odd-even trial run saw massive jams across the city with many commuters complaining they were stuck for hours. The good news though: Violations, and challans, came down quite a bit from Monday, showing Delhiites were still playing by the rules.

The Rajiv Chowk Metro station witnessed serpentine queues on the fourth day of the odd-even road-rationing rule on Tuesday. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)

Traffic snarls were seen during peak morning and evening hours at Dhaula Kuan, Rao Tula Ram Marg, India Gate, Vikas Marg, Ashram, Punjabi Bagh, Ring Road and New Friends Colony and on stretches leading to Gurgaon. The situation was made worse by unmanned pickets that created bottlenecks.

“I took my car out expecting a smooth ride but was stuck in Dhaula Kuan for over half an hour, just like before the odd-even rules kicked in,” said Arunendra Pandey of Dwarka in southwest Delhi.

In a change of strategy, enforcement agencies shifted their focus from border areas to major junctions within Delhi. Against 1,800 challans on Monday, 1,247 were issued on Tuesday.

“Compliance was high on Tuesday. Efforts of our officials at the borders (on Monday) paid off and drivers got the message that we are serious about implementing the rule to the T,” said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (traffic).

He said officials would continue to change their strategy every day to ensure violators were caught.