Delhi transport minister urges MPs to follow odd-even

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai on Monday appealed to Members of Parliament to follow the city government's odd-even scheme after a few lawmakers were found violating vehicle restriction norms.

"I appeal to all the MPs to follow the odd-even scheme to contribute in saving the environment," Rai told IANS.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's remarks came after several lawmakers were found violating the vehicle restriction scheme of the Delhi government as they drove in even-numbered cars on a day meant for odd-numbered cars.

Bollywood actor and BJP MP from Gujarat Paresh Rawal on Monday flouted the odd-even rule along with other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs, including Choudhary Babulal, Prahlad Patel, Udit Raj, Ashwani Chopra, K.P. Maurya and B.C. Khanduri.

Members of Parliament have not been given exemption under the odd-even scheme which started on April 15 and will end on April 30.

"The government had already deployed six special buses to facilitate the MPs so that they don't face any problem while attending the Parliament session," Rai added.

The Delhi government had on Sunday announced six special buses to ferry the lawmakers to Parliament House from North Avenue and South Avenue via Akabar road and Ashoka road.

However, one special bus had only two passengers in BJP MP Ranjan Bhatt and Hari Om Singh.

Asked about people complaining about heavy traffic in the city during office hours, the AAP leader said: "Heavy traffic was reported on some routes due to local issues in the last few days. As the issues have been addressed, smooth traffic was witnessed today."

Rai claimed that the second phase of the odd-even scheme was a success as more people were adhering to the restriction.

--IANS

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