The Delhi Government on Saturday called off the odd-even scheme, which was to be implemented from Monday, after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the withdrawal of exemptions given to two-wheeler riders and woman-only vehicles, under the scheme.
Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the Government’s decision came in view of the directive by the NGT, which ordered the withdrawal of all exemptions under the scheme. “The Government is not ready ‘to compromise with the safety of women’ after the NGT ordered that there should be no exemptions to anyone except emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders,” he said.
“We respect the NGT decision. Two conditions of NGT that two-wheelers and women cannot be exempted make it difficult to implement odd-even as we do not have adequate buses,” Gahlot said.
“Also we cannot compromise with the safety of women. We cannot take risks. PM 2.5 and PM10 levels have also come down. So at the moment we are calling it off. We will file a review application in NGT on Monday,” the Minister said.
The decision to call-off the scheme was taken at a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and attended by his Ministers, including Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain. Senior officials, including the Chief Secretary, were also present in the meeting at Kejriwal’s residence.
“Odd-even was not to satisfy anybody’s ego. Women being vulnerable cannot be exposed to risks. The Delhi Government cannot risk the safety of women during odd-even period. Will not implement odd-even without exemptions to women,” AAP’s Delhi unit chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted.
The move to cancel the odd- even plan came after the NGT on Saturday gave a conditional nod to the AAP Government’s decision to implement the odd-even car rationing scheme for five days from November 13, ordering that no exemption should be allowed to “any person or officer and two-wheelers”.
The NGT said that the odd-even scheme should be implemented “without any default” as and when PM (particulate matter) 10 level goes above 500 microgrammes per cubic metre and PM 2.5 level crosses the limit of 300 microgrammes per cubic metre during a span of 48 hours.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar ordered that there should be no exemption to “any person or officer and two-wheelers” from the ambit and scope of the road rationing scheme and would be applied with equal vigour to all vehicles.
The decision came after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) told the Bench that two-wheelers were more polluting than other vehicles, and emissions from motorbikes accounted for 20 per cent of the total vehicular pollution.
However, the tribunal exempted CNG vehicles, emergency services such as ambulance and fire, and vehicles carrying waste.
Taking strong exception to the decision to increase parking fees in Delhi by four times, the NGT ordered the Delhi Government and the authorities concerned to reconsider the decision. The tribunal said, “The hike in parking fees will only benefit the contractors and would stress people by encouraging them to park vehicles on the roads instead, choking them in the process.” “The extra money collected would not come to the Government for sure. You are only enriching the contractors through the order,” it said.
Earlier this week, the Delhi Government had announced implementation of the odd-even scheme from November 13-17, given the high level of smog in the capital. Schools were also shutdown till Sunday.
A landmark IIT-Kanpur study, which covered the period 2013-14, has said that during winters, vehicles are the second largest and the “most consistent” contributing source of this severe pollution and pollutants PM10 and PM2.5. In terms of percentage, it comes to around 20-25 per cent during winters, the report says. The contribution of road dust is negligible during the colder months unlike summers when it plays a bigger role. However, the share of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, trucks and light commercial vehicles in the total vehicular contribution shows that trucks and two-wheelers are the major polluters.