With the end of 15-day odd-even car rationing scheme on January 15, a debate has started on the social media, urging the Government to restart the scheme in the national Capital.
“Why are ppl with KejriwalIJ Why was #EvenOdd successfulIJ These questions don’t let Saaheb and his mandela sleep....proud of @ArvindKejriwal,” tweeted one user on Sunday to appreciate Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while chiding his critics. Similarly, another user tweeted, “Neither even moving nor odd... Please bring back #EvenOdd.”
Famous media personality Rahul Kanwal tweeted, “Don’t know about pollution but crazy jams sure as hell are back with a vengeance on Delhi’s roads. #OddEven was a good decongestion tool.”
Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted, “Majority of our studio audience gives thumbs up to IJ#IJEvenOddPlan. But they don’t want it round the year!”
Also, some users uploaded pictures of the gridlock. Various surveys too have been carried out to gauge residents’ mood. “68% people want #EvenOdd to continue. 67% even READY to pay pollution tax if this helps reduce pollution in Delhi,” tweeted a user.
“One way to check if pollution has come down after #OddEven can be to monitor if the Delhi CM’s cough has got any better. #PollutionFreeDelhi,” one user joked.
A student from Jawahar lal University requested Kejriwal to continue the scheme in parallel with some other modifications. She tweeted, “We urge @ArvindKejriwal to consider metro feeder for JNU, affordable bus passes for students, safe, dependable transport, continue #EvenOdd.”
Besides, Twitter, some e-organisations also supported Kejriwal’s odd-even.
An e-shopping portal carried out votes on Twitter to gather support for the scheme. “Do you want to extend the odd-even scheme beyond the 15-day trial periodIJ#oddeven #evenodd #Delhi #oddevenformula,” tweeted Trendy Bharat while writing that 57 per cent Delhi people came out in full support of the scheme.
From day one, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Ministers used Twitter to put across a strong message to the people of Delhi, while they decided to use carpooling or take public transport to work. They used Twitter handle @AAPkaGopalRai and @AAPinNews and started their venture by uploading the very first picture of January 1, 2016, that showed the Chief Minister and his Cabinet carpooling and using public transport.
Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken tweeted on Saturday, “#TrafficJams Never Before- Delhi seems to be waiting for #OddEven to be over Everyone out shopping, Marriage Card distribution etc.”
Similarly on Facebook, a separate page for odd-even was active for the entire 15 days when the scheme was implemented on trial basis. AAP Bulletin Board FB page was also busy.
Around 98,217 Facebook users uploaded either pictures or status. A user uploaded a picture of traffic-less road and wrote, “Well done Delhi... IJ#IJEvenOddPlan largely a success. Didn’t expect Dilliwalas to heed the call. Kinda nice to rediscover the law-abiding side to this city.”
There were a few critics too who wrote, “At least a try has been made although it was not properly studied. Banning half cars was only fraction of fraction polluting source. Majority are from industries and heavy vehicles. Without proper study, it only leads harassment of people from inside as well as outside of Delhi.”