After National Green Tribunal's scathing criticism, Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi has decided to scrap its plan to implement Odd-Even scheme in Delhi to deal with alarming level of air pollution.
"In light of the the two conditions by NGT on 2 wheelers & women, at the moment we are calling it off. We will go back to NGT on Monday, file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding the two," Kailash Gehlot, Delhi Transport Minister was quoted as saying by ANI.
Gahlot said the government's decision came in view of the directive by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which ordered the withdrawal of all exemptions, including to two-wheeler riders and woman-only vehicles, under the odd-even scheme.
The government is not ready "to compromise with the safety of women" after the NGT ordered that there should be no exemption to anyone expect emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders, he said.
"We respect the NGT decision. Two conditions of NGT that two wheelers and women cannot be exempted make it difficult to implement odd-even as we do not have adequate buses," Gahlot said.
"Also we cannot compromise with the safety of women. We cannot take risks. PM2.5 and PM10 levels have also come down. So at the moment we are calling it off. We will file a review application in NGT on Monday," the minister said.
The decision to call-off the scheme was taken at a meeting chaired by Arvind Kejriwal and attended by ministers, including Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain.
Senior officials, including the Chief Secretary, were also present in the meeting at Kejriwal's residence.
Earlier today, the NGT had given its nod to Delhi govt's odd-even scheme to begin from November 13. However, it has clearly stated that no exemptions except emergency vehicles shall be made during the Odd-Even period.
Earlier there were 28 exemptions.
There is no exemption at all, Odd-Even will be implemented even on VIPs, only emergency vehicles will be exempted, Rajiv Bansal, Counselor for DDA said, adding that the highlight of the order is that Odd-Even will be implemented automatically if PM 10 level goes above 500 & PM 2.5 level goes above 300, which will be monitored for 48 hours.
The National Green Tribunal concluded its hearing on the matter today.
Key Points-
- During the hearing, the NGT observed that its patience shouldn't be tested, asking the Delhi government that when the statistics have indicated that rain leads to a fall in pollution levels, why wasn't action taken ? It's now being taken after the Tribunal said so.
-So we should assume that the government is sure of the odd even scheme's benefit, and of no inconvenience taking place to the citizens? it asked the AAP govt.
-The NGT has asked the AAP dispensation if odd-even car rationing scheme is being implemented with consent of both LG and Delhi govt.
-"Why didn't you introduce odd-even scheme earlier when air quality was worse ?" it asked the Delhi govt.
-The green panel asked if the odd-even scheme is at the whim and thought of a particular officer or the Delhi govt as a whole?
-The NGT also asked the Delhi government to show the letter on basis of which this decision was taken. and asked it to state how many times does a person breathe in a day.
-Central Pollution Control Board submitted that they had warned the Delhi government orally in advance about the impending problem, which the Delhi government denied.
-The National Green Tribunal observed "it is most worrying that there is absolute non cooperation between various departments of govt"
-NGT asked the Centre and the Delhi government to name a big city where PM 10 levels were lower than 100.
-NGT asked Delhi Govt about reasons behind exemptions and the impact of pollution emanating from two wheelers, and whether they intend to employ this scheme of Odd Even whenever the pollution levels spiral, to which the Delhi Govt stated that this couldn't be said as of now.
-The National Green Tribunal asksedCPCB, DPCC and Delhi Govt "why didn't you implement it earlier?
-NGT asked the Delhi government "Won't the hike of parking fees only benefit the parking lots, and would stress people even further, thereby encouraging them to park vehicles on the roads instead, choking them in the process?" It has directed the govt to reconsider its decision on hiking the parking fees.
-NGT pulled up CMD of DTC for not reading the former judgements in this regard. NGT observed that it was unfortunate and asked DTC on the number of its unused buses in its workshops.
-NGT asked the Traffic Police to deploy its personnel at traffic lights, observing that almost all the main roads in the city are witness to diesel vehicles which are older than 10 years and petrol vehicles which are older than 15 years.
With Agency Inputs
