The Delhi Government may reconsider exempting women in the second edition of the odd-even scheme, a decision on which is expected to be taken by April 8.
Interestingly, while Transport Minister Gopal Rai refrained from confirming if exemption to women will be continued, he said 50 per cent of seats in the “Paryavaran Bus Sewa” (special buses that will be run during the scheme period) will be reserved for women, indicating that women may be excluded from the exemption list this time around.
“We will decide by April 8 as to which vehicles will be exempted under the odd-even scheme this time. A list of exemptions will be sent to lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung and a notification for it will be issued again,” said Rai.
While the focus of the scheme seems to have shifted to reducing congestion rather than pollution, which was the original plan, Rai said the Government will monitor the air pollution levels across the National Capital Region during the odd-even scheme.
Rai said the second phase of odd-even scheme will start from April 15 and will be on till April 30. “We had the first coordination meeting in which officials of Traffic Police, Delhi Metro, Delhi Transport Corporation, Transport Department, Environment Department and Revenue Department took part. We have started preparations for the second phase of the scheme,” said the Minister.
Rai said like last time, contract carriage buses will be hired on same terms and conditions this time as well under the “Paryavaran Bus Sewa” for the convenience of the passengers that will leave their cars behind on alternate dates.
“These buses will be registered from March 28 to April 14. The registration will be done in DTC depots and they will be given a special permit for 15 days. But unlike last time, the school buses will not be included this time,” said Rai, adding that 50 per cent of seats in the special bus service will be reserved for women and all the buses will have marshals. Apart from that, to provide last mile connectivity to the commuters who are expected to switch to public transport during the scheme, the route of Delhi Metro feeder bus services would be rationalised and further shortened.
Rai further said the Traffic Police and Delhi Metro will submit their plans for the odd-even scheme in the next meeting. To enforce the odd-even restrictions, the SDMs will not be pressed into service this time around. However, 400 ex-servicemen will be recruited to help enforce the system. Rai said that the recruitment of ex-servicemen would be completed by April 1.