It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and the AAP’s decision to deal with air pollution in Delhi may just be one.
On the very day that the Aam Aadmi Party government faced serious criticism for gifting themselves a hike of almost 400% in their salaries, it also announced a rather unusual move to reduce air pollution: private vehicles with odd and even registration numbers would be allowed to ply on alternate days on the city’s roads from January 2016.
The move has been lambasted and criticised on Twitter.
Odd And Even Number Vehicles to be Allowed in Delhi on Alternate Days!! I escape... My car has a prime number!!
— Manoj Ramachandran (@manojanthikad) December 4, 2015
Time to Buy one More Car Ending with Even Number if this stupid Govt acts comes into Place
— NamoMyPM (@SunilSinghBJP) December 4, 2015
Car industry applauds as expects to sell more cars with special #s; households will scramble for ood-even combo.
— Prasanto K Roy (@prasanto) December 4, 2015
It will be interesting to see what happens to car sales in Delhi in the next few weeks. Huge opportunity for car makers.
— Sumit Bajoria (@SumitBajoria) December 4, 2015
I am from out of Delhi so if I drive in my car into Delhi do I have to wait for odd even day according 2 my car no..how??? #savedelhiplan
— Madhvi Thakur (@madhvithakur18) December 4, 2015
People hv started planning second car with odd/even number in my office.. :P
— Kapil (@kapsology) December 4, 2015
In Delhi.. After meal~Bhai ek Plate chicken rice parcel. After buying car~Bhai ek odd/even number plate parcel https://t.co/cVeeC3lWim
— Amit.A (@Amit_smiling) December 4, 2015The decision was announced after an emergency meeting called by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal following the Delhi High Court’s observation on Thursday that living in Delhi was like "living in a gas chamber”.
According to the government, the move is aimed at cutting down vehicular pollution in the state by half the current levels. The Delhi government is also likely to stall operation of the Badarpur coal plant.
NDTV reported that the High Court had also ordered a "time-bound action plan" by December 21 after it found both the Delhi and Union government plans to be incomprehensive and unspecific.
However, a final blueprint will be decided regarding the implementation of this by a joint between the traffic police, transport department and Municipal Corporation of Delhi.