Odd-even not long-term remedy, says Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the odd-even scheme cannot be a long-term “remedy” to air pollution.

He said his Government was determined to ramp up public transport in the city within a year to limit the number of vehicles on the roads.

Calling the second phase of the odd-even scheme “very successful”, Kejriwal said the Government will soon come out with a separate policy for cab and bus aggregators which will enable more taxis and buses on the roads.

“We have to strengthen the public transport system in the coming days and we are working on it. Odd-even cannot be a long-term remedy,” the Chief Minister said addressing a “thanks giving” ceremony to celebrate the sucess of the second phase of the scheme.

“We have announced a bus aggregator policy. We hope the buses from the private sector will ply on the roads. We are also coming up with a taxi aggregator policy which will enable more taxis on road,” Kejriwal said at the event in Chhatrasal Stadium.

We are also coming up with a taxi aggregator policy which will enable more taxis on road. In coming one year, public transport will be strengethened in Delhi and if we do Odd-Even after that then people will also face less trouble, the Chief Minister said.

Transport Minister Gopal Rai said the success of the second phase of the scheme was 99.60 per cent which is five per cent more than the first phase of the road rationing measure in January.

He said the Government will take a decision on future implementation of the odd-even scheme based on analysis of various surveys on air pollution by different agencies as well as examining the effectiveness of phase 1 and 2.