NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the Arvind Kejriwal government why women and two-wheelers have been exempted from the odd-even traffic rule effective for 15 days starting January 1.

Seeking a response from the government, the court said it will hear the matter next on January 6. Kejriwal had on Monday addressed a press conference where he announced the exemption of two-wheelers, women drivers, essential services and a large section of VIPs from the odd-even trial.

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Meanwhile, the national capital is gearing up for the radical experiment to check alarming levels of pollution. The Delhi government announced the scheme after a court ordered authorities to tackle pollution levels that are at more than 10 times the World Health Organization's safe limits.

Earlier on Wednesday, chief minister Kejriwal went to a Delhi school where he urged children to ask their parents to follow the odd-even scheme .

"You should talk to and convince your parents to get a Pollution Under Control certificate... Convince your parents to follow the odd-even rule," Kejriwal told the students.

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"Call up your relatives and friends and tell them not to violate it. This will only be successful when it becomes a big movement. Vehicular pollution is the main reason why we are here... After conducting car-free day on 22nd of every month, we calculated pollution and it was comparatively lesser," he said.

"This encouraged us to implement this odd-even formula for a trial period of 15 days," Kejriwal said, adding: "We will start vacuum cleaning on streets around April, like it's done in Europe... The Delhi government is also building by-pass corridors to avoid trucks (Haryana and Uttar Pradesh route only) entering Delhi."

To cope with the extra pressure on the public transport network, the Delhi government has hired around 3,000 private buses to provide shuttle services into the city from residential areas.

Schools have been ordered to remain closed until the trial ends on January 15 so that their buses can be pressed into action.

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Traffic police and 10,000 volunteers will monitor cars at checkpoints across the city and violators will be fined Rs 2,000.

Around 8.5 million vehicles clog up Delhi's roads and 1,400 new cars are being added every day as the city's residents become more affluent.

That has contributed to Delhi being the most polluted of 1,600 cities around the world that were surveyed by the World Health Organization last year.

Delhi's air quality drops dramatically during winter when farmers in neighbouring states burn crop stubble, while poor residents light fires to keep warm and the colder air traps pollutants in the atmosphere.

The city has in recent weeks been enveloped in a toxic soup that has cut visibility and pushed PM 2.5 levels more than 10 times over the WHO's recommended safe limit.

These extremely fine particles -- less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter -- are linked to increased rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease.

The new restrictions, in place from 8am to 8pm everyday except Sunday, will allow cars with odd-numbered licence plates to drive on odd-numbered dates and those with even-numbered plates on the others.

(With agency inputs)