Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said vehicles carrying schoolchildren and two-wheelers will be exempted from the odd-even scheme, the Hindustan Times reported. This came days after the chief minister said that women will be exempted from the rule.
The road rationing system, an attempt to reduce traffic on the streets of the national Capital, will be reintroduced from November 4 to November 15. It prohibits plying of vehicles based on the last digit of their registration numbers – vehicles with odd digits are not allowed on even dates and vice versa.
“The scheme will also include vehicles coming from other states, and only be implemented on non-transport four-wheeler vehicles, two-wheelers will be exempted,” Kejriwal said at a press conference in New Delhi. When asked about commuters who drive back home alone after dropping their children to school, a Delhi government official said that more details will be provided later on it, according to NDTV.
“Two-wheelers are exempt from Odd-Even, which will be enforced between 8 am and 8 pm,” the chief minister said. “It will be eased on Sunday.” A fine of Rs 4,000 will be imposed on those who violate the odd-even scheme, Kejriwal added.
He said that the pollution originating in Delhi was only a part of the problem as air pollution from other states, especially due to stubble burning, was another contributing factor. Kejriwal said residents of Delhi had taken stringent measures to curb air pollution but a similar effort had not been taken to reduce pollution coming from outside its territory. The chief minister added that varying figures of the proportion of pollutants – from 1% to 10% – had been reported due to stubble burning.
“Today, the truth is that it is impossible to attribute pollution to internal and external factors,” he said, adding that from April next year, sensors would be set up in several parts of the city to ascertain the source of pollution.
The scheme, a part of the Graded Response Action Plan to combat pollution, was first implemented in 2016 in an effort to reduce dense smog in the city during winter. November to January are the most polluted months in the National Capital Region. However, it was found that the implementation of the scheme made little to no difference to the city’s air quality.
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