In wake of the rising pollution problem in the National capital, health emergency has been declared in Delhi and the nearing regions. The National Green Tribune, slashing out on the governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana questioned the three states as to why precautionary measures were not being taken.
After being reprimanded by the NGT, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a number of measures, including the shut down of school till Sunday and the ban on trucks carrying constructions material until next notice. The Chief Minister in his statement to the press on Thursday had also said that the government will also take a call on implementing the odd and even scheme in the state.
In order to further control the traffic so that the pollution can be controlled to a limit and to encourage the people to use metros more, the DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) issued a statement which said that from 9 Nov, the Delhi Metros will run extra train trips across its network. In an attempt to reduce the use of private vehicles, the Delhi Metro on Wednesday also announced a four-fold hike in the rates for parking on its premises.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Friday, made yet another announcement saying that, since the odd and even scheme will be effective very soon, for the convenience of the people the government also announced that all DTC and cluster buses in the city will be operating free of charges from 13-17 Nov.
Delhi’s Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot tweeted, “To encourage the use of public transport during the odd-even process, the Delhi government will allow all DTT and cluster buses to travel free for the passengers from 13th to 17th November.”
Delhi’s Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot tweeted, “To encourage the use of public transport during the asymmetrical, the Delhi government will allow all DTT and cluster buses to travel free for the passengers from 13th to 17th November.”
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that this step would encourage people to pursue public transport. Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has around 4,000 buses, while there are 1,600 clusters buses. Apart from the metro, a large number of Delhi residents travel through bus services.
Since AAP came into power in Delhi, the DTC has been unable to buy any new busses. The even-odd plan will be effective from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm and female drivers and two wheelers have been spared from this scheme.
The increasing pollution in Delhi and the surrounding areas have made the return of the odd and even number scheme. After getting directions from the High Court to take steps in this regard on Thursday (November 9th), the Delhi government had taken this decision.
The Delhi High Court had said on Thursday that ’emergency situation’ has been created due to pollution in the Delhi-NCR region. The court had asked the Delhi government to come up with an equitable plan for vehicles and to get artificial rain (cloud seeding). The court asked the Delhi and NCR officials to meet in the wake of the adoption of short-term measures to overcome immediate pollution from the Center and to make the report related to the matter to be presented on November 16 next.