A day later, Kejriwal open to scrapping odd-even car plan

The move aims at reducing air pollution in Delhi, which has reached alarming levels, making it the most polluted city in the world

Delhi's plan to allow only odd and even numbered private cars on its roads on alternate days could be chaotic, and even be scrapped if the trial fails.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, during a session at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, on Saturday said if things do not work out, the plan could be scrapped.

"Many things have to be sorted out. If there are too many problems, it will be stopped," he said.

On Friday, the Delhi government had announced that starting New Year, private vehicles with odd and even numbers would be allowed to ply only every other day. The move is aimed at reducing air pollution in Delhi, which has reached alarming levels, making it the most polluted city in the world.

The Delhi government has also implemented or is planning to push for a number of measures to check pollution (see chart).

Experts said implementing the policy would be tough. The police will have to work overtime to push it and the government will need to provide better public transport.

Sarika Panda Bhatt, manager, cities and transport, WRI-EMBARQ India, said, "Instead of implementing the rule for a day, the government could implement it only during the rush hour. Daylong norms could lead to more ownership of cars."

She gave the example of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, where the restriction during peak hours had actually reduced pollution and the number of vehicles on the road.

Bhatt said there should be other measures to implement the policy effectively.

"There should be a congestion pricing to discourage people from using private vehicles. The government should also strengthen public transport."

More autorikshaws should also be available for short journeys.

Last year, the Delhi government had sought the Supreme Court's permission to add 200,000 autos to the existing fleet, claiming that the absence of adequate and cheap public transport often resulted in three-wheeler drivers fleecing commuters.

In its submission to the court, it said Delhi had the lowest population-to-autorickshaw ratio among metros. There were only 100,000 autorickshaws to meet the demand of 1.63 crore people. In comparison, Mumbai had a population of 1.84 crore with 246,000 autorickshaws.

Dinesh Mohan, a leading expert on traffic safety and an emeritus professor at the Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi said it would be difficult to implement the policy.

Also, the actual reduction of pollution by implementing the measure is unseen, as it depends on the proportion of private cars used for commuting.

"There is no data which specifies the exact number of private vehicles used for commuting. There are over 10,000 school vans bearing private numbers. What will happen to them? I think the impact of policy is unseen and it will not help in curbing pollution."

Mohan said since the implementation of high-security number plates in Delhi and other areas has not been done fully, people may fudge their number plates. He added it would also increase the ownership of cars among the rich.

Bhatt, who has been involved with the "No Car Day" in Gurgaon, however, was more optimistic. She said the odd-even number move could be implemented in other Indian cities, provided there were supporting measures.

Sanjeev Kakkar, director, MeriBus.com, welcomed the proposed policy, claiming it would encourage car pooling and travel in buses. "The move will encourage commuters to use public transport."

Meri Bus has a fleet of 30.

Sources said the government is trying to run more buses and request Delhi Metro to make trains more frequent.
DESPERATE MEASURES
Some of the other measures the Delhi government is planning to reduce pollution:

Clean cars
Delhi wants to implement Euro VI norms by January 1, 2016
Challenge: For the rest of India, the deadline is January 1, 2017

Vacuum clean air
PWD could clean Delhi's streets from April 1, 2016
Challenge: Funding, logistics

Alternative transport
Get school buses to meet public transport demand
Challenge: Safety of commuters; how schools will be affected

Shut down thermal plants
To shut down the Badarpur and Rajghat thermal power plants. Move an application with the NGT to shut down the Dadri plant

Challenge: Seeking permission from Uttar Pradesh to shut down the Dadri plant

Restrict trucks
Traffic police and transport department planning to allow entry of trucks into Delhi from 10 pm, instead of 9 pm as it is now
Challenge: Finding alternative routes for trucks