Odd, even number cars on alternate days soon

In a desperate bid to halve the teeming vehicular population of the National Capital, the Delhi government on Friday decided that vehicles with odd and even number plates would be allowed on alternate days only from January 1, 2016.

Delhi has more than 87 lakh vehicles, half of which hit the roads every day.

To ensure that commuters are not put to hardship, Delhi Metro services will be extended and school buses will be requisitioned even as efforts to expand the existing fleet of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) were underway.

Emergency vehicles such as ambulances will be out of the purview of the scheme. Commercial vehicles will be permitted to enter the Capital only around after 10 p.m instead of the current deadline of 9 p.m. The emergency meeting where the decision was taken was chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and came after a Delhi High Court observation that living in Delhi was akin to living in a gas chamber.

“This decision will have wider repercussions and before taking such harsh measures, the government should have first strengthened public transport and tried to work out a solution by taking the opinion of more stakeholders and experts,” said Dr. P.K Sarkar, Head of the Department of Transport Planning, School of Planning and Architecture.

Modalities related to the formulation of the scheme, which is in operation at several capitals across the globe including Beijing and Sao Paulo, are scheduled to be 'worked out urgently' by Principal Secretary (Transport) together with Secretary Environment and Revenue over the coming days.

While the Traffic Police, according to Delhi Chief Secretary K.K. Sharma, would “also be associated in this regard and invited to the meetings”, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi complained that the Capital's law enforcement agency “was not consulted by the State Government” before announcing the decision.

In a report following the observance of the Capital's second instalment of Car Free Day on November 22, The Hindu had revealed that the Delhi government had decided to take the enforcement route to reduce vehicular traffic.