outine congestion confronted drivers on arterial routes and in the Delhi Metro, and levels of particulate matter remained above standards on the first working day since the odd-even road-rationing scheme began.
However, contrary to expectations, the number of fines issued by enforcement officials on Monday registered a steep decline
Only 710 drivers were issued fines for violating the odd-even restrictions as opposed to nearly 2,000 drivers during the first Monday in the trial phase held earlier this year.
The government said this was indicative of the wilful compliance of the provisions of the scheme by the citizens of the Capital.
The Delhi government, which brokered a last-minute peace deal with auto and taxi unions that threatened to cripple the Capital till late Sunday, said it had yet again passed the agnipariksha of manic Monday. In the trial phase too, the scheme had faced its real test on a Monday.
However, citizens complained of being stuck in jams and being overcharged by app-based cab companies.
Environment experts, meanwhile, said it was too early to judge the impact of the scheme on the ambient air quality of Delhi.
“I spent the same hour that it usually takes for me to reach ITO from Laxmi Nagar on Monday; the volume of traffic is visibly the same and so is the level of congestion and time spent stuck at the single red-light signal,” said Ashwini Kumar Aggarwal, a businessman.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who car-pooled with his colleagues to the Secretariat, claimed that people were “voluntarily following” the provisions of the scheme and that there was no congestion on the roads.
“People are voluntarily following odd-even scheme. I want to thank the people for following it. Due to this scheme, there are reports that there is no congestion on roads...If people did not follow the rules there would have been more violations of the scheme,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
However, the Traffic Police said that apart from ITO, snarls were also witnessed in peak morning hours at Khanpur, the Mehrauli-Badarpur road, Delhi Cantonment and Dhaula Kuan between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. followed by the stretch between IGI Airport and Vasant Vihar, the National Highway 8 and the underpass at Dwarka.
Transport Minister Gopal Rai, who said the government would rely on public opinion to ascertain when the odd-even scheme would return to the Capital -- as reported by The Hindu last week, said that barring some “exceptions”, the progress of the scheme has been quite “positive” despite challenges on Monday.
“The reports so far indicate that 90 per cent of parents smoothly ferried their school-going children but some people may face problems. I urge parents, especially women, to help one another and drop other children to their homes,” he said, adding that the government’s efforts to strengthen public transport were underway.
Government said
the low number of fines indicated the willingness of citizens to follow the scheme
