The Arvind Kejriwal government on Monday announced that the odd-even vehicle scheme will return in Delhi. The decision was taken after the Chief Minister held a high-level meeting today. Announcing the scheme, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said that odd-even will come into force from November 13 and will conclude on November 20. The rule permits vehicles with odd-numbered plates to operate on odd-numbered dates and vehicles with even-numbered registration plates to operate on even-numbered dates.
After the announcement, Rai also said that the Delhi government has called for another meeting on Tuesday. The agenda of this meeting is to chart the implementation strategy of the odd-even scheme in Delhi.
Rai further added that the prohibition on BS-III petrol vehicles and BS-IV diesel vehicles, which was initially introduced in GRAP-4, will remain in force. However, there will be exception for LNG, CNG, and electric trucks used for essential commodities and essential services. Other trucks are not allowed to enter Delhi. The environment minister also said that in GRAP-3, demolition activities at flyovers, overbridges, and power transmission pipelines were exempted. However, they are now also subject to the ban.
For all Delhi schools, teachers have been told to switch to online classes between November 13 and November 20. The only exception – class 10 and class 12. which will continue to have physical classes.
Stage IV GRAP, which was invoked in the National Capital Region on Sunday, is the highest level of pollution alert.
Amid pollution crisis, political slugfest continues
Amidst a severe air pollution crisis in the national capital, the blame game between the ruling AAP in Delhi and the BJP continued on Monday. Both parties pointed fingers at stubble burning in states governed by the other as the root cause of the health concerns.
During a press conference on Monday, AAP’s chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar alleged that paddy stubble (parali) burning in Haryana was responsible for the air pollution in Delhi, and she criticized the BJP government in the state for not taking adequate measures to prevent farm fires.
In response, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva countered by claiming that there were more than 3,000 stubble burning incidents in AAP-ruled Punjab on Sunday, while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was preoccupied with “political tourism” in states with upcoming elections.