Odd-Even 2.0 begins; Kejriwal says let's make it work

New Delhi, Apr 15: The Delhi government is all set to roll out the second phase of the odd-even scheme today with 2,000 traffic personnel, 580 enforcement officials and over 5,000 civil defence volunteers being deployed on the roads of the national capital daily for 15 days.

However, not much rush is expected on the public transport facilities such as Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation, who have announced extra trains and buses respectively till April 30, today being a public holiday on account of Ram Navami.

"An enforcement plan has been chalked out under which the city has been divided into 11 zones for the implementation of the scheme. Each zone will have 10 sectors. One mobile enforcement team will operate in each sector," Transport Minister Gopal Rai told reporters on Thursday.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to people to make it a success. "Odd even starts today. Lets all join hands and resolve to make it a success," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.

Odd even starts today. Lets all join hands and resolve to make it a success.

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 15, 2016

The Delhi government, which has projected the second phase of the road-rationing policy as the "decisive" one, said that 2,000 traffic personnel, 580 enforcement officials and over 5,000 civil defence volunteers are being deployed for its smooth implementation.

Violators will be fined Rs. 2,000 in accordance with relevant section of the Motor Vehicles Act and the scheme will not be implemented on Sundays.

Also, a 20-member Special Task Force has been set up to look into matters reported by the mobile teams.

The enforcement teams have a ten-point focus chart which comprises areas near ISBTs, railway stations, health institutions, trade centres, district courts, city borders, education institutions, major traffic intersections, IGI Airport and crowded office buildings, Mr Rai said.

The traffic department has identified 200 intersections in the city where their personnel will be deployed in teams, with their sizes depending upon the volume of traffic in those intersections.

The first phase of the policy, that was in force between January 1 and 15, did not have its intended affect as it could not lower pollution "as much as expected" but it significantly helped reduce traffic congestion in the city, Mr Kejriwal has said.

However, Mr Kejriwal has also stated that his government is seriously considering to enforce the measure for a period of fifteen days every month. Experts will be monitoring its affect on gaseous pollutants such as Ozone this time.

Apart from enforcement officials and traffic personnel, 5,331 civil defence volunteers will also remain deployed at 205 strategic points in the national capital to ensure implementation of the scheme. In the last phase (January 1-15), around 4,000 of such volunteers were pressed into service, Mr Rai said.

Also, 321 wardens have been entrusted with the duty of ensuring coordination between volunteers and the government, he said. Mr Rai said the government has not been able to find a solution to the problem of cars picking up children after school hours during the fortnight-long road rationing scheme.

Cars with children in school uniforms are exempted from the odd-even scheme. But parents have raised apprehensions over the fate of the cars going to pick them up.

Referring to a recently conducted study by the government, Mr Rai said that when it comes to picking up children after the school hours, around 85 per cent drivers are women, who are already exempted under the scheme. For the remaining, people should resort to carpooling.

When asked why a CNG sticker or certification-like arrangement could not be made for such cars, Mr Rai said that monitoring of such a task was not possible at the moment.

He said many complaints were received in connection with CNG stickers during and after the last phase of odd-even scheme due to which the government has cut down the list of CNG stations from where the stickers can be availed to only one this time.

There are over 3,000 schools in the city and there are high chances of a scam in case any certification-like arrangement was made, he said.

At this moment, it is not possible to set up a monitoring system for that, the minister said.

Mr Rai said the government has also arranged for adequate supply of drinking water, lemonade, caps, umbrellas and special ambulances for the volunteers facing the scorching heat during the period.

He said that 10 CCTV cameras have been installed at specific intersections to monitor vehicular movement during the fortnight.