The third version of odd-even road-rationing scheme got off on November 4 when pollution level in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) touched its worst levels due to stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. It is time to revisit the earlier two versions of the rule in order to find out the impact the current is likely to have on mitigating toxicity in the atmosphere.
Odd-even formula was introduced for the first time between January 1 and 15, 2016. It was reintroduced between April 15 and 30 the same year.
The first version of the odd-even rule was also implemented under similar circumstances.
The Delhi High Court made an observation on December 3, 2015 that air pollution levels in the national capital had reached "alarming" proportions. It further said living in Delhi was akin to "living in a gas chamber".
The very next day, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Arvind Kejriwal decided to implement the odd-even scheme. Odd-even 1.0 was enforced in Delhi from January 1 to 30, 2016.
With this, Delhi joined the league of cities such as Beijing, Mexico City, Santiago, Chile, Sao Paulo, Costa Rica, Honduras, Bolivia and Paris which had implemented the odd-even scheme.
The people lent their full support to the Arvind Kejriwal government in ensuring that the scheme, which had been implemented for the very first time, became a success.
The Kejriwal government also patted its back claiming that the odd-even scheme was a grand success and he thanked the people for their support by following it.
However, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s data for the fortnight said the capital's air quality remained "hazardous" or "very unhealthy" on most of the days between January 1 and 15.
Its data showed that the concentration of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) in the said period was hardly encouraging. The highest PM2.5 recorded on January 1, 2016 was 276 and the highest in the first week was recorded on January 6 (484). In the second week, the highest PM2.5 was recorded on January 13 (431).
Odd-even 2.0 was implemented from April 15 to 30 the same year. However, unlike in January, the schools were closed in April.
Moreover, the Delhi government seized the school buses and used them for plying commuters. This took away considerable load off the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and Delhi Metro.
The end result of the second odd-even scheme was worse than the first one. It not just failed to reduce the pollution levels but it also failed to decongest the roads.
A large number of commuters ignored the road rationing scheme right from the first working day. Delhi-NCR witnessed such congestion for the first time on an odd-even day since January. While the general public was highly inconvenienced, the auto-rickshaws, taxis and cabs had field days during the two vehicle-rationing fortnights.
They over-charged the hapless commuters. In a tweet, Arvind Kejriwal himself said he had received some complaints against Ola and Uber for charging surge prices. He said his government was planning strong action against them.
On the next day, he said strict action, including cancellation of permits and impounding of vehicles, would be resorted to against the taxis which charged rates more than what the government had prescribed.
A few months before Delhi assembly election is held, the Kejriwal government has implemented odd-even 3.0 even though there is no consensus on the positive impact, if any, on the earlier two exercises.
This year, Delhi-NCR has been witnessing smoke and low visibility since the last week of October because of the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi burning stubbles in large quantities. In such circumstances, it remains to be seen whether odd-even 3.0 yields the desired result.
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