Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the implementation of the odd-even scheme in January did not lower pollution “as much as expected” but it significantly helped reduce traffic congestion in the city.
“Odd-even did lower pollution but not as much as expected, however, it significantly reduced traffic congestion, the roads were cleared and people liked it very much,” he said in reply to a question by a girl student at Sarvodaya Balika Vidyala. The odd-even scheme was implemented on an experimental basis from January 1 to January 15 in view of high air pollution in the national capital. The second phase of the scheme will commence on April 15.
Kejriwal said a debate is going on regarding how much pollution was lowered during the trial of odd-even scheme in January and the estimates are varying. “Fortune magazine says it dropped by 13 per cent, others say it lowered by 55 per cent. Pollution did lower due to odd-even scheme.”
Referring to media reports during the first phase of odd-even scheme that showed “increase” in pollution due to it, the Chief Minister said how could pollution go up when number of vehicles on the roads reduced. “I was watching an interview of a child who asked how could pollution increase when the number of vehicles on the roads of Delhi had reduced,” he said.
Claiming that the sale of of petrol and diesel had gone down by 40 per cent during 15 day trial of odd-even, Kejriwal added it is “natural” that pollution lowered as less fuel was consumed. “We are considering implementation of odd-even scheme for 15 days in each month, although we have not decided it, which will help in lowering pollution and provide big relief from congestion.”
The CM administered an oath to the school girls pledging to fight air pollution in the city. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Transport minister Gopal Rai were also present.