New Delhi: The Delhi government has taken a very interesting decision for controlling air pollution in the national capital.
Kejriwal government has decided to allow private vehicles with even and odd registration numbers to run on alternate days only from January 1, 2016.
This decision effectively means that vehicles ending with an even number will ply on a certain day and followed by odd number plates in the next day. However this rule will not apply to public vehicles.
Delhi government has also decided to shut down south Delhi's Badarpur power plant. The power plant is coal-based plant run by the NTPC.
The government has also decided to move to National Green Tribunal (NGT) to request for closure of Dadri Thermal power plant which falls in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh.
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The decision, taken at a meeting presided over by Kejriwal, will also cover vehicles entering Delhi from other states. The Delhi government hopes to reduce emission by half in the national capital by the controversial move.
The sweeping move - like the one taken in Beijing in 2013 - will apply to a large bulk of the some 90 lakh vehicles registered in Delhi, where about 1,500 new vehicles are added every day.
Delhi's vehicular population - which cause choking jams on all weekdays - includes some 27 lakh cars.
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The decisions came a day after the Delhi High Court said that the national capital was like a gas chamber, and sought immediate action from the central and Delhi governments.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality of Delhi is said to be "very poor" with an air quality index of 331.
When air quality index ranges between 301 and 400, the air is said to cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.
Earlier measures apparently have not dented the increasing air pollution in Delhi, leading to major health issues.
In October, the National Green Tribunal announced an "Environment Tax" or "Green Tax" on commercial vehicles entering the city.
The Delhi High Court later ordered all private radio taxis to switch over to compressed natural gas (CNG) before March 1, 2016 if they desired to operate in the capital.
NGO Greenpeace warned recently that the indoor air in Delhi was five times more polluted than it should be according to Indian standards.
The WHO, however, says this is 11 times more than their prescribed level.
He said Government will carry out a massive plantation drive along all arterial roads across the city to curb spread of dust and ensure vacuum cleaning of roads by the Public Works Department from April 1.
The city government has also decided to make it mandatory for vehicles to have Euro VI standards for vehicular emission from 2017, two years before the Centre's scheduled introduction of the same.
Sharma said public transport will be significantly augmented to take the load of increasing passengers due to the odd-even number restrictions.
This practice of allowing even-odd numbered vehicles on alternate days is not entirely new as it is already being followed in world cities like Beijing and Singapore. Vehicles entering Central London also follow the same rule.
However, the implementation in Delhi may prove to be a tough challenge given the fact that public transport in the national capital is not as efficient and robust as in Beijing, Singapore and central London.
