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NEW DELHI: The fate of the AAP government’s odd-even scheme is likely to be decided on Monday, when the Delhi high court takes a call on whether to end it or allow it to run till January 15. A report of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), tabled by the Delhi government in court on Friday, has recommended that the scheme be extended beyond January 15 but the Delhi government is unlikely to go along.Transport minister Gopal Rai , who was in the court, later told TOI that the government will think about a second phase only after analysing the data from the current one. “It’s not practical to have the second phase any time soon. January 26 is coming up, followed by school examinations. We need to have adequate infrastructure in place before implementing the campaign again,” he said.This is consistent with what chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said in an interview earlier this month. Asserting that the scheme was not a permanent measure and would end on January 15, he had said the government would then reassess the situation and decide its course of action.Senior lawyer Harish Salve, who is also the amicus in matters related to air pollution in Supreme Court, appeared for the Delhi government on Friday and read out from the EPCA report to claim that peak pollution levels had plummeted in the eight days that the scheme has been in force.“Pollution is not going away. The odd-even scheme is an emergency measure to arrest peaking of the air pollution level. This is needed to protect public health in a city where every third child has impaired lungs,” he said at the hearing that was attended by Rai and AAP member Ashish Khaitan.HC is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the scheme on several grounds. On Friday, the petitioners, including Delhi HC Bar Association president Rajiv Khosla and others, attacked the EPCA report, disputing its data. Khosla alleged that the data submitted by the Delhi government was not correct since particulate matter across the capital showed a rising trend despite the scheme being in place since January 1. Other petitioners too told the bench the data shows the scheme has had no impact on pollution but has only resulted in putting citizens to inconvenience.After hearing the government and the individual petitioners, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath wrapped up the proceedings, indicating they will pass an order on January 11.Salve told the court EPCA has recommended that “the Delhi government must be permitted to continue with the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme beyond 15 days, if adverse weather conditions continue.” He pointed out that “there has not been a single good air quality day this winter,” adding that “peaking of pollution shows a trend of decline. Peak pollution during the odd-even scheme has been lowest this January. We are at an emergency level due to pollutants trapped in the air. It is a pilot project for a definite period of time with a fixed objective and must be permitted to go as schedule.”Arguing that the scheme was in keeping with global best practices, he said vehicles were the second highest emitters in the city and were responsible for very high exposure and health impact. “The first few days of the programme have already demonstrated that peak pollution levels are lower than the normal smog peaks of the season despite the adverse weather conditions,” he asserted. “Emissions from vehicles caught in the congestion increase two times due to idling and frequent acceleration and deceleration,” he said on behalf of the government, claiming that particulate and nitrogen oxide load from cars have declined by as much as 40% and a higher share of pollution benefits have come from reduction in the number of diesel cars.“This is not the only action that is being taken in the city to arrest runaway air pollution. The Supreme Court has taken firm steps to check heavy commercial vehicles from entering Delhi. It has also issued directions on enforcement of construction and road dust as well as garbage burning,” said Salve.The EPCA report has blamed the weather for high pollution levels, arguing that if not for the odd-even scheme, the levels could have been much higher. “This winter, out of all the severe smog episodes so far (with several consecutive days in severe category), the peak pollution during the odd-even programme has been the lowest. This shows that despite the hostile weather conditions...the peak pollution during the odd-even scheme has been much lower. The earlier smog episodes have seen much higher peaks and much more rapid build-up compared to the rise that happened during the first week of the odd-even programme. This proves that reduced traffic volumes have arrested the peaking of pollution. It validates the importance of the emergency action,” said the report.Salve conceded that the government needed to do more and make the scheme more successful by reducing exceptions. He said the Delhi government “should now work for more public transport so that the city can go car-free more often.”The AAP government’s response came two days after the high court questioned the impact of the odd-even scheme on pollution and asked it to examine if it could curtail the programme.