Second phase of odd-even scheme in Delhi from April 15

New Delhi, February 11

The second phase of the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme will be implemented in the city from April 15 to 30 and women, VIPs and two-wheelers will remain exempted from restrictions, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said as per the feedback received by the government, an overwhelming majority of the respondents were in favour of reimplementation of the scheme.

The Chief Minister said government was “seriously deliberating” on the idea of enforcing the scheme every month for a fortnight while admitting the city’s public transport was not capable of handling the resultant passenger rush.

“The scheme will be implemented from April 15 to 30. The Board exams are getting over on April 12 and we will enforce the scheme thereafter. VIPs, women and two-wheelers will continue to be kept out of the ambit of the scheme,” he said.

The scheme was implemented from January 1-15 as part of the government’s anti-air pollution initiative.

The Chief Minister, in a separate interaction with senior editors, had earlier said the scheme will not be permanently enforced as doing so will make people look for ways to beat the system, including bribing policemen.

Under the scheme, private cars having odd registration numbers are allowed to ply on odd dates and those with even numbers on even dates.

“The biggest argument in favour of implementing the scheme every month for 15 days is that one individual will not face trouble for more than seven days due to the nature of the scheme. If Delhi’s people support us, it can be implemented,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the government is procuring 3,000 new buses, including 1,000 luxury ones, which will be fielded by December as part of efforts to ramp up public transport. He said two-floor elevated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors will be constructed to augment transport infrastructure. — PTI