With experts and Opposition parties questioning the practicality of the scheme, he said many things are to be thrashed out before its implementation including talks with the Centre and police as they will have to be “taken on board”. We will experiment with it for some time. Responding to a question regarding the AAP government’s proposal to allow private vehicles on the roads only on alternate days, Kejriwal said his government won’t do anything that will create trouble for the residents. “If there are too many problems, it will be stopped”, he said at the HT Leadership Summit here.
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The latest move comes a day after Delhi’s high court expressed alarm over the “unchecked rising pollution”, and said that living in the city was like “living in a gas chamber”.
The minister, who also holds the health portfolio, said the pollution levels in Delhi were an “emergency” situation, leading to various health issues. “We will come down heavily on that and penalise those burning trash”, said the CM.
“This is being done for the interests of the citizens and the public”, K.K. Sharma, chief secretary of Delhi state, said in a press conference. The city government has also decided to make it mandatory for vehicles to have Euro VI standards for vehicular emission from 2017, two years before the Centre’s scheduled introduction of the same.
The Delhi government on Friday made a decision to take a proactive but controversial step to curb the population that has been troubling the city for decades. Starting Jan. 1, private vehicles would only be allowed on the roads on alternate days.
Relenting Kejriwal’s move, BJP spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh said, “Kejriwal has not put a mind behind giving a solution to the problem”.
Courts have been pushing authorities to act, including ordering a toll tax on the thousands of diesel-guzzling trucks entering the city every night.
On November 27th, one of the US Embassy’s pollution-monitoring stations in New Delhi recorded a chart-breaking reading of 999 on its custom-developed Air Quality Index.
Reacting to the state government’s decision, CJI said that it was still to be seen whether the formula results in reduction of pollution level as there are many other reasons for deteriorating air quality in the city.
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The numbers-based approach is part of a slew of measures announced by the territory’s government to curb pollution; the government also plans to shutter some power plants and vacuum streets.
