Delhi smog: Has LG Baijal approved your odd-even scheme, NGT asks AAP govt

Also, questions why the Delhi govt did not implement the road-rationing scheme earlier

Amid worsening air-quality situation in the national capital and the Delhi government’s proposal to implement the odd-even road-rationing scheme for five days starting November 13, the National Green Tribunal on Saturday raised some questions on the city government’s plans.

The green body asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -led dispensation whether its odd-even scheme was being implemented with the consent of both Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi government.

The body, which had on Friday questioned the effectiveness of the odd-even scheme in checking pollution and said it could not be implemented until its usefulness was proved, on Saturday asked the Delhi government why it did not introduce the scheme earlier when the air quality was worse than it is at present. 

The NGT sought to know whether the odd-even scheme was planned to be implemented at the whim and thought of a particular officer or the Delhi government as a whole. It also questioned the basis of granting exemptions under the scheme – especially to two-wheeler riders and women – if the intent really was to improve the ambient air quality.