Odd Even vehicle rule – Is it really that odd? --Ira Patel

The odd-even scheme is one of the most widely debated topics on the street as well as on the internet. It was announced by the Delhi government on December 7^th 2015 as a measure to tackle the growing threat of air pollution. What precisely is this odd even vehicle rule? Let’stake a look!

The AAP cabinet announced private vehicles to run across the city according to their registration numbers. If a vehicle’s registration number ends with an odd digit, it will be allowed on the road on January 1, while that ending with an even number can be driven on the second and so on. Following are the rules of the odd even vehicle scheme:

1.       Private vehicles with odd registration numbers will be allowed on the road on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
2.      Vehicles with even numbers will run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Nothing has been finalized about Sundays.
3.       This rule will not be applicable on emergency vehicles like PCR vans, fire tenders and ambulances, and on public transports like CNG-driven buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws.
4.       Good news for bike owners, for the government has decided to exempt two-wheelers from this rule.
5.       This system, therefore, will be applicable only on private-owned four wheelers running across Delhi, and on those coming in from other states. And that includes vehicles used by ministers and bureaucrats of all ranks.
6.       The government has added, the public transport will be strengthened from the first of January. This will include increasing the frequency of metro trains across the city.

    Other rules being implied along side

• Trucks will not be allowed to run across Delhi until 11pm.
• All vehicles will have to follow the standards of Euro VI 2017.
• The Delhi government has also decided to shut down the Badarpur power plant in southern Delhi, which is one of the coal-based plants of the NTPC.

The reason behind this sudden implementation of the odd even vehicle scheme was due to the Delhi High Courts order towards the Centre and State governments, to come up with comprehensive  plans to keep a check on the capital city's disturbing pollution rate. They said living in Delhi was like "living in a gas chamber".

This system was implemented earlier in Beijing in 2008 just before the summer Olympics. The rule was initially said to be temporary but it turned out to be so effective that the government made it permanent. Similar road-rationing rules are imposed in many places around the world like Paris, Mexico and Bogota to curb road jams and pollution. London too applied the vehicle exclusion plan prior to the 2012 Olympics to control the congestion and pollution. Norway's capital Oslo, although has a very nice air quality, implemented such restrictions keeping the future in mind.

 Delhi also taking cue from these cities and states completed its first trial of the scheme on the January 15th and there are mixed reports as to whether the vehicle rule actually worked or not. Over the week, social media was flooded with people posting pictures of the open roads that helped them reach destinations in virtually half the time it used to take before the odd-even programme began. The criticism on the other side emanated from those who said they had a harrowing time using crowded public transport systems. Odd and even has proved that people in Delhi are opting for public transport, carpools, taking autos and taxis, which can reduce the total emissions. Amit Kumar, a localite, took his hand-held pollutant measuring device and walked out onto the open courtyard; the digital meter showed figures for PM 2.5 that were in the range of about 350. Kumar is an employee at Nirvana Being — a store that sells designer pollution masks and air quality measuring instruments. He informed that there were no significant changes in the air pollution levels. Although the scheme was started to control the air pollution but much of a support for it has come because of the fact that it has helped decongest the city roads.

Since there was no significant change in the pollution levels, there are some suggestions from the localities and other intellectuals of the weather department. Apart from the odd even vehicle scheme other measures needed for better results are- reducing the number of diesel trucks on the road along with private vehicle usage, hiking parking charges (which currently are the lowest amongst the world's megacities) and upgrade and improvement of public transport to ensure better connectivity and coverage not just in Delhi but in the entire National Capital Region (NCR).

In all the odd even scheme was  not a success since it did not fulfill the prerequisites but after the trial period ended , Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal  took to Twitter to congratulate the citizens and declared that a better and refined version of the scheme will be implemented at the later stage.

In the final analysis, Delhi government deserves credit for thinking of the scheme. If nothing else, it made all others sit up and take notice of the increasing threat to the environment and health. The very fact that several other state/city administrations, across political spectrum, are willing to experiment with the scheme shows that all realize the importance of steps to control pollution. However certain other measures need to be incorporated in the scheme to make it an absolute success!