Next odd-even phase only after public consultation: Jain

New Delhi, May 2

The Delhi Government will consult people on the Odd-Even scheme and take into account the experiences of the first two phases before announcing the next round of the traffic rationing measure, PWD Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday.

He said the city government has undertaken a series of measures to curb pollution, both from vehicles and dust, which include marking of dedicated bus lanes and vacuum cleaning of roads under the Delhi government.

The Minister said they have also sent a proposal to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung for imposing a fine of Rs 2,000 on those who violate the bus lanes. He said Jung has raised some objections on this, which will be addressed.

Jain also lashed out at those who claimed that pollution had increased during Odd-Even scheme period.

"If the diesel and pollution consumption has gone down by 30 per cent, how can the pollution rise? To criticise the scheme, some people say that pollution has increased due to it. This is wrong. Our government is new and we don't have any baggage. We can even fail and we are ready to take failures.”

He was speaking at a conference organised by United Residents Joint Action of Delhi (URJA), where a 'Delhi Clean Air Forum' campaign was launched.

The minister said that the government has been successful in bringing the issue of pollution “centre-stage".

Jain said there are roads measuring 1,260 km under the Delhi Government and it has started the initiative of using vacuum cleaners to clean them in order to avoid pollution due to dust. But it will take two months longer for the project to start on full scale, he said.

He added that the PWD is also planning to cover the soil around these roads with grass in order to curb pollution from dust particles.

"...Because 50 per cent of pollution is because of dust and the rest 50 per cent by vehicular pollution. We will be vacuum cleaning the dust," he said.  — PTI