Before the Delhi Government pats itself on the back over the odd-even formula, here is a statistical fact: Only 5.3 lakh cars can be kept off roads on any day. And that’s a meagre 6.27 per cent.

With the government exempting 25 categories of vehicles, as many as 73.9 lakh vehicles will be free to ply on Delhi roads from January 1 to 15 when the odd-even formula will be put to trial.

This includes 55.7 lakh two-wheelers, which are the biggest vehicular polluters (32 per cent) in Delhi.

With the government exempting 25 categories of vehicles, as many as 73.9 lakh vehicles will be free to ply on Delhi roads from January 1 to 15

Experts say exemption to such a large number of vehicles would defeat the purpose of the road rationing experiment.

The vehicles exempted from the odd-even rule include government, police and VVIP vehicles (1 lakh approximately), ambulances (1,320), defence vehicles (1,500) and embassy vehicles (7,500) among others.

A senior transport department official said the government had already banned the 15-year-old petrol cars (8 lakh) and 10-year old diesel cars (1.5 lakh) in the Capital. So, these will also remain off roads during the 15-day experiment.

Also, 3.5 lakh-odd CNG-fitted vehicles have been exempted.

Transport planning engineers said the transport sector contributes nearly 22 per cent to air pollution, of which cars emit only 5 per cent - and hence restricting 5 lakh-odd vehicles would make no major difference.

“There will only be a marginal reduction in air pollution level by taking 5 lakh cars off roads. Two-wheelers and other heavy vehicles are bigger polluters and they have been exempted by the government. The odd-even formula can be an experiment but not an appropriate solution,” said Professor PK Sarkar, Head of Department of Transport Planning at the School of Planning and Architecture.

Transport Minister Gopal Rai (right) with Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi in New Delhi on December 29

He said that the government could have easily managed to restrict these 5 lakh vehicles by regulating traffic in certain areas instead of imposing the ban. Earlier on December 8, Mail Today had reported that a whopping 55 lakh two-wheelers were the biggest polluters among all categories of vehicles in Delhi.

Diesel-run trucks account for nearly 28 per cent of vehicular pollution. The number of two-wheelers in Delhi is more than double the number of private cars.

Sarkar criticised the exemption of two-wheelers and said that this will encourage the middle class to buy new two-wheelers as substitutes to odd or even numbered cars on given days.

On the other hand, there will be a mad rush among the upper middle class to buy old cars.

“Rise in number of old vehicles will prove more harmful for the environment,” he said.

Experts claimed replacing cars with buses would not only add to congestion on roads but also cause more pollution. Instead, they stressed putting the car-pooling mechanism in place. They asked the government to set up a regulatory committee that will take into account the basic requirements of commuters.

“An online mechanism for car-pooling is the need of the hour. Only if male and female commuters have options of fellow passengers to choose from, they will opt for carpooling. An online portal having details of passengers on a particular route can be helpful,” Sarkar maintained.

It may be noted that a chartered bus service was initiated in Delhi in 1991 but the experiment failed due to poor monitoring.

Car buyers in an odd situation

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

Those thinking of buying a second new car to beat the odd-even formula for driving cars on alternate days in the city face the barrier of the online system of numbering that the Delhi government has put in place.

Car dealers in the city said that there have been some enquiries from buyers who already own a car with an even number and wanted to buy another car with an odd number. However, the online system allots numbers in a random manner and there is no guarantee of getting either an even or an odd number.

Car dealers in the city have had enquiries from buyers who already own a car with an even number, and want to buy another with an odd number

“A car buyer would be taking a big gamble with his investment if he were to buy a new car merely to get an even or an odd number of his choice,” said a leading Maruti dealer.

“Neither the dealer nor car owner can foresee whether the number is going to be odd or even,’’ he added.

Another car dealer said that since the odd-even number system of running cars on alternate days was being first introduced on a trial basis for 15 days, consumers who can afford another car are probably in watch-and-wait mode.

However, given the present online system of allotting numbers they will have to buy second-hand cars to beat the system.

Repeat offenders to be fined once a day

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

Delhiites will not have to pay repeat fines under the odd-even car scheme. Two days ahead of its roll out, the Delhi government on Tuesday decided to withdraw its earlier order to slap repeat fines of Rs 2,000 for each violation by motorists in the course of a day.

The decision was reached at a meeting Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi had with the state’s Transport Minister Gopal Rai.

Bassi and Rai deliberated at length on how to ensure coordination between Delhi Police and the city government for effective enforcement of the ambitious scheme aimed at significantly reducing air pollution.

Rai said following a request by Bassi, Delhi government decided to reverse its earlier decision of slapping fine of Rs 2,000 on offenders each time they got caught violating the scheme during the course of the day.

It was decided that volunteers to be deployed by Delhi government will not act independently and be attached to either sub-divisional magistrates, traffic police or enforcement wing of the transport department.

Bassi had on Monday said action will be taken against volunteers if they took law into their hands and engage in vigilantism. The meeting, called by Rai at the Delhi Secretariat, lasted for around 45 minutes.

Bassi said Rai has assured him that around 5,000 to 6,000 volunteers will be pressed into service to help police.