The Odd-even Phase 2 is all set to debut in the national Capital on Friday.
However, the acid test is expected to be from Monday onwards after the city get backs to routine after the weekend hangover.
This extended weekend – beginning with Ambedkar Jayanti and Ram Navami – has seen all of Delhi’s and central government offices closed. Markets have also kept their shutters down. Thus the fate of Odd-even 2.0 will only be known on Monday.
Experts fear the summer heat will also test Delhiites’ patience, who had fully cooperated with the anti-pollution measure in January. The strength of DTC’s bus fleet that includes around 1,370 buses, will be put on trial.
Given that DTC’s air conditioned buses tend to break down in summers, bringing the city’s traffic to a halt, Transport Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said that all these buses have undergone maintenance.
Rai unveiled details of the ‘odd-even’ blueprint in a press conference. Around 2,000 traffic personnel, 580 enforcement officials and over 5,000 civil defence volunteers will be deployed on the Capital’s roads daily for the next 15 days. In the last phase, around 4,000 volunteers were pressed into service. Also, 321 wardens have been entrusted with the duty of ensuring coordination between volunteers and the government, Rai told reporters on Thursday.
He added, “An enforcement plan has been chalked out, under which the city has been divided into 11 zones for the implementation of the scheme.
Each zone will have 10 sectors. One mobile enforcement team will operate in each sector. A 20-member Special Task Force has been set up to look into matters reported by DTC’s mobile enforcement teams. It has a tenpoint focus chart comprising areas near ISBTs, railway stations, health institutions, trade centres, courts, city borders, education institutions, major traffic intersections, IGI Airport and office buildings.”
Rai said the government has not been able to find a solution to the problem of cars picking up children after school hours during the fortnight-long road rationing scheme. Referring to a recently conducted study by the government, Rai said that when it comes to picking up children after the school hours, around 85 per cent drivers are women, who are already exempted under the scheme. Cars with children in school uniforms are exempted from the odd-even scheme. The remaining should resort to carpooling.
When asked why a CNG sticker or certification-like arrangement could not be made for such cars, Rai said that monitoring such a task was not possible at the moment. He said many complaints were received in connection with CNG stickers during and after the last phase of odd-even scheme, due to which the government has cut down the list of CNG stations to just one, from where the stickers can be availed.
“There are over 3,000 schools in the city and there are high chances of a scam in case any certification-like arrangement is made,” he said.
Rai said the government has also arranged for adequate supply of drinking water, lemonade, caps, umbrellas and special ambulances for the volunteers facing scorching heat during this period. He said that 10 CCTV cameras have been installed at specific intersections to monitor vehicular movement.
[Source:- Businesstoday]
