Schoolchildren pledge to fight air pollution

Hundreds of schoolchildren took a pledge in the presence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday to fight pollution and convince their parents, relatives and friends to adhere to the odd-even scheme to be rolled out in two days.

“Convince your parents, relatives and friends to follow the odd-even scheme. We are to do this not out of any imposition, but because it is important for our health and life,” Mr Kejriwal said while addres-sing the students at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya in north Delhi’s Civil Lines.

“If you see anyone violating the odd-even scheme, just roll down your car window and ask that person to go back home. If the same person receives 10 such remarks in a day, it would stir his conscience and persuade him to keep his car off the road,” he added.

Before the students took the oath, the chief minister also encouraged them to convince their parents and relatives to go for car-pooling, as public transport vehicles like buses and Delhi Metro are likely to be quite crowded for 15 days during which the scheme is to be implemented, starting January 1.

“I, myself, shall car-pool with transport minister Gopal Rai, who lives not very far away from my residence,” Mr Kejriwal said.

During the programme, Pollution-Free Delhi, a student asked the chief minister about the exemption on medical emergencies provided in the scheme and how is it to be implemented, to which Mr Kejriwal replied by saying that the scheme is largely based on trust. On being asked about the probability of people buying two cars to evade the scheme, the chief minister called it a “baseless claim” being propagated for the past few days.

“Media is exaggerating about people buying two cars to evade the scheme. Not too many people are that rich, and the affluent ones already have more than one car. These are all baseless claims being propagated from the past few days. And above all, it is not a permanent scheme anywhere,” the CM said.

Mr Kejriwal.Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Mr Rai were also present on the occasion.