As the national Capital graced the New Year with the AAP Government’s 15-day trial run of the odd-even scheme, the same received mixed reaction from the Delhiites. While some people drove with “enthusiasm” on the roads with “lesser traffic”, others criticised the Government over the “flawed wisdom”. For the first two days of the scheme, public opinion was divided over the initiative, which is aimed at bringing down the pollution levels of the world’s most polluted city.
Shabir Ahmed (self-employed) is happy to commute from Jamia Nagar to ITO for work. “My main concern has been this traffic mess. There are times when one gets frustrated especially at red lights like the one at ITO. But looking at the smooth flow today, I am ready to take public transport on even date as my car is an odd one,” Ahmed said.
The beginning of this scheme has brought out curiosity and excitement among the commuters of the Capital. However, some have been left completely disappointed with the Government’s plan.
“It is absolutely ridiculous... I travel from Ashok Vihar to Patparganj… It took me three hours to reach at my friend’s place to carpool with my business partner to work place...It’s absolutely crazy,” said Surinder Bhatia (name changed).
With the raising levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 and hazardous gasses like Benzene and Nitric Oxide in the city air, the health concerns have been high. In order to curb these threats, the Delhi Government came up with an experimentation of odd-even scheme
Rajender Minhas sees the scheme as an attack on rights of citizens where it has been forced on us “haphazardly”.
“I do not agree with this move…stopping pollution is a long process. Government should instead increase awareness through governess as well as social media. It is affecting people on a big scale. Delhi’s transport connectivity is not very good. So there is a big flaw in this,” Minhas added.