How and Whys Of Delhi ’ s Odd-Even Vehicle Policy . Will It Work ?
How and Whys Of Delhi ’ s Odd-Even Vehicle Policy . Will It Work ?
Desperate times require desperate measures . If one thinks the recent move by Delhi government to be inane , it is because the city ’ s pollution level has reached absurd levels , and any step needed to stop that would necessarily have to be in extremes . According to benchmarks , the Delhi pollution levels predominantly hang in between the scales of ‘ very poor ’ and ‘ severe ’. The astronomical surge in pollution levels cannot be blamed on a single source . Undeniably , the effluence from cars plays a major role in upping the poison levels in air . Accepted we love car travels , but let us not deceptively console ourselves by prematurely concluding that the experimental move to be implied in Delhi from the first day of 2016 would be ineffective . The government has already taken a few measures to curb air pollution . The citizens of the city do not seem to reciprocate to the endeavor with similar enthusiasm . The odd-even rule is not as outlandish as the unforgiving social media is projecting it to be . Beijing , which comes second after Delhi in the list of world ’ s most polluted cities , launched similar initiative for two months in 2008 before the Olympic Games . As per news reports , the policy cut down emissions by 40 percent . Since October 2008 , the policy was implemented in the city on a permanent basis . The launch of the ‘ Car-Free Day ’ initiative on October 22 in the national capital led to a 60 percent drop in the air pollution on the car-free stretch in comparison to the levels observed on a normal day , a report released by the Centre for Science and Environment ( CSE ) stated . However , the same agenda next month
8
failed to spur substantial commitment from the citizens . Shutting down power plants in the city , changing entry timings of trucks in the city and prohibiting open burning of garbage adds to the list of steps taken by the authorities on this issue . The National Green Tribunal has stopped diesel vehicle registrations in Delhi till January 6 , 2016 . The odd-even plan , internationally known as “ road space rationing ”, is estimated to impinge on 8.4 million vehicles registered in Delhi . The Delhi Pollution Control Committee said it will collect samples from 200 places to be tested during these 15 days of the trial run , to see if the move has been effective to curb pollution . Other cities which put similar restrictions for cars on roads include – Venezuela ’ s capital Caracas , Chile ’ s capital Santiago , Athens , Mexico City , Sao Paulo , Bogota , La Paz , San Jose in Costa Rica and Philippines ’ capital Manila . Paris , in March last year , came up with a similar policy of alternate driving days . Though the rule did not stay for a long time , the city successfully observed a car-free day on 27 September this year . The odd-even policy undoubtedly will ruffle a few feathers , especially when Delhi has made itself comfortable even among the obnoxious scarcity of parking space owing to its inhabitants owning more cars than necessary . Nevertheless , like all watershed policies , this too needs to be provided with the necessary time and space to grow and have course corrections .