Odd-even vehicle scheme from Nov 4 to 15 in Delhi, says Kejriwal

The Indian Express
New Delhi, Sep 13: The odd-even vehicle rationing will return to the national capital between November 4 and 15, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday. He added that the scheme will result in a 10-13% reduction in pollution in winters when crop burning takes place in neighboring states.
Women, however, will be exempted from the plan. The scheme will also not be implemented on weekends, the chief minister said.
Briefing reporters on a winter action plan for air pollution, Kejriwal said, “We are procuring masks on a massive scale. We will make them available to the people for free. Will start making them available in October, so that people have them before November 1 when smoke starts coming. N95 category masks are being acquired.”
Besides this, the Aam Aadmi Party chief said, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will also adopt mechanised sweeping and use water sprinklers to control dust. “We want to achieve 100% mechanised sweeping in Delhi,” he said.
While the Supreme Court has banned the sale of firecrackers in the national capital, on Choti Diwali, the Delhi government will hold a laser show for the people, the Chief Minister announced.
Providing further details, the AAP chief said every ward will have two environment marshals to control polluting activities in that ward.
A massive plantation drive will also be undertaken and a helpline number will be released to ensure saplings are delivered to the people in their homes.
A war room will also be developed to address public grievances.
The Delhi government also identified 12 spots across the national capital, witnessing high levels of pollution. A separate plan will be made for them, Kejriwal said.
As part of long term measures, Kejriwal said an additional number of around 4,000 buses will be deployed and that the bus aggregator policy will be notified soon. Route rationalisation will be done for increasing the frequency of buses.
Bus stands will be also be revamped – the arrival status will be seen on boards or can be viewed on mobile applications. The electric vehicle policy will also be notified soon. Around 1,000 electric buses will be introduced, Kejriwal announced.
The most polluted months of the year are November, December and January, with pollution peaking in November.