New Delhi: Delhi government's proposal to implement odd/even formula for vehicles is facing more trouble. A public interest litigation has been filed in the Delhi High Court against the government's formula to curb pollution in the capital.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Monday announced that both the odd and even-numbered cars will be allowed to ply on Sundays. Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain said that it is the "responsibility" of the Delhi Police to implement the formula to curb air pollution in the national capital.
Jain also said that government has started a series of meetings to roll out strategy on the issue and DMRC will also be asked to increase its working hours to accommodate a huge crowd of passengers.
As per Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plan, odd-numbered cars will be allowed to ply on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while even-numbered vehicles will run on the other days - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Government will only allow emergency vehicles like PCR van, fire tenders, ambulances on the roads of the national capital.
"We will allow odd and even numbered vehicles on Sunday as there is no heavy traffic on the capital's roads on that day. We have enough time to make a strategy on the implementation of odd and even formula," Jain, who is also Health and PWD Minister, said.
Asked about the Delhi Police not being informed before introducing even and odd formula, Jain said, "Police is a part of government and they (police) are not the government. It is their responsibility (Delhi Police) to implement the law enacted by the government."
The minister said that Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster have been asked to increase the frequency of their buses by 20 per cent.
"Besides, Metro will also be asked to increase their working hours so that people don't have to face problem while using public transport. If we increase public transport by 20 per cent, there will be no problem for people," he also said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on said that the government would discontinue the move after 10 to 15 days if people faced problems.
On December 4, the AAP government had come out with a plan of restricting private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers to alternate days from January 1 in the national capital.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Maheish Girri said the Delhi government has proposed a scheme that would "inconvenience lakhs of people", but not take any action against waste-to-energy plants in Okhla, which were scheduled to be shut by 2013 but still continued to function.
The East Delhi MP said the plants were a major source of pollution and emitted gasses that could cause cancer. The odd-and-even scheme would affect many poor people who use two-wheelers for work, he claimed.
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