Gurgaon not prepared for odd-even scheme in Delhi: Experts

The district administration is not prepared to handle the odd-even pressure, hence, commuters are likely to suffer, said experts.

As the Delhi government on Thursday said that it plans to roll out the odd-even traffic rationing scheme, commuters in Gurgaon may face problems due to a weak public transport system.

The Delhi government on Thursday announced that it plans to roll out the odd-even traffic rationing scheme. (Hindustan Times)

The district administration is not prepared to handle the odd-even pressure, hence, commuters are likely to suffer, said experts. Getting transportation from metro stations, especially, will be a difficult task. Furthermore, the Delhi Metro does not cover all parts of Delhi NCR, they argued.

“We do not have a very supporting public transport system in the city to implement the odd-even scheme. Our focus will be to implement other measures in the graded response action plan,” said Vinay Pratap Singh, deputy commissioner, Gurgaon.

“Cities in the NCR where the local transport system is weak, implementing the odd-even scheme is not likely to work. Commuters will opt for taxis which will not solve the problem of removing cars from the roads,” said Sewa Ram, associate professor of transport planning in School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

“In Gurgaon, implementation of odd-even is not required now. The situation can be handled by controlling waste burning instances and sprinkling water at dust generating units,” said JB Sharma, regional officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board.

Gurgaon has a bigger problem in implementing the odd-even scheme as according to a survey by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), between 2008 and 2015, car registration in Gurgaon increased by 352% while, bus registration came down by 300%. Gurgaon also has four times more cars per 1,000 people than Delhi.

“Gurgaon’s public transport needs to be upgraded to curb air pollution,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, CSE.