Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal | Photo Credit: PTI

New Delhi: As Delhiites are experiencing a high level of air pollution, the Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on the Arvind Kejriwal government while observing that the Odd-Even scheme may not be a permanent solution.

Calling the Odd-Even scheme, which was rolled out by the Delhi government on November 4 and expires today, a “half-baked solution”, the SC observed that it would have worked better if implemented without exemption. At present, the scheme applies to only "non-transport four-wheeled vehicles".

“How can one exempt two-wheelers from the Odd-Even scheme,” the SC asked the Delhi government.

To this, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the Delhi government, told the SC that removing certain exemptions will help. “We are trying to work it out further. If two-wheelers won't be allowed, the city will come to a standstill.” He further called stubble burning as the key reason for air pollution.

When the Central Pollution Control Board told the Supreme Court that cars are contributing three per cent to pollution levels and the contribution of all the vehicles combined is 28 per cent, the SC observed that the Odd-Even scheme may not be a permanent solution. “Garbage dumping, construction wastes and road dust are also major contributors to the pollution levels,” added the SC.

The SC further asked the Delhi government to inform it about the impact of the scheme on air pollution levels.

"Even the Delhi government's affidavit says we have not conducted such study on the Odd-Even. It's a half-baked solution, either it's full Odd-Even or no Odd-Even, there has to be no exemption. We don't know whether it's really working or not," the top court said.

It added, "Delhi is suffering badly, the AQI is almost 600 even today. How do people breathe?"

The court also asked the Centre to come up with a road map for the installation of air-purifying towers in order to tackle the pollution crisis.

The SC noted: “We can try to control pollution but nature is not in our control. This is what happens when nature is misused. If no exemption is given under the Odd-Even scheme, it can work.”

The Odd-Even scheme is a vehicle rationing system, first introduced in the national capital by Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government in 2016. It was implemented with an aim to curb pollution.

Notably, Delhi today was dubbed the most polluted major city in the world after the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 527, as per data by Air Visual on the World AQI rankings. Since the Air Visual data is updated on a regular basis, the rider is that rankings and AQI figures keep on changing during the day itself.

In a related development, a meeting of a parliamentary standing committee to discuss the rising levels of air pollution in the national capital was postponed today as most participants, including East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir, were absent.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had, earlier today, announced that final call on extending the Odd-Even scheme would be taken on Monday.

"Air quality is predicted to improve over the next two-three days. A final call on extending the Odd-Even scheme will be taken on Monday," Kejriwal had said while addressing a press conference.

"The residents cooperated very much in implementation of the scheme. There were 250-300 challans every day, which are very less considering the population," the Delhi CM had added.