Top officials to be deployed on roads

To ensure strict compliance with the odd-even road rationing scheme on Monday, the first full working day of the plan, the Delhi government will field all district magistrates, SDMs, ADMs and tehsildars on roads.

The government has currently deployed 210 teams from the enforcement wing of the transport department to prosecute violators. Besides, 2,000 traffic police personnel have also been deployed on roads to tackle offenders.

The actual impact of the scheme will be known on Monday when schools and offices will re-open after an extended weekend. A one-day strike called by a section of taxi and auto unions might compound the hardship of commuters.

“As Monday will be the first working day after the odd-even scheme was implemented, the government will deploy DM, SDMs, ADMs and tehsildars to ensure implementation of the odd-even scheme on April 18,” transport minister Gopal Rai told reporters.

DM and SDMs will be given powers by the divisional commissioner to ensure strict compliance of the odd-even scheme.

The transport department of Delhi government had on Friday challaned 427 violators while the traffic police fined 884 motorists. Asked about heightened crackdown on violators though the first day of the scheme, rolled out on Ram Navami, was a public holiday, he clarified that 50 per cent of violators came from neighbouring states as they did not know about the scheme.

“In view of this, we will install hoardings at all border points educating the motorists about the fortnight-long implementation of the scheme in Delhi,” he said.

The transport minister claimed that the people of Delhi are emphasising on self-preparation to follow the road-rationing plan and said parents going to pick up their wards after school hours are facing no problems due to the scheme. “I today visited several schools where I was told by the management that parents who used to come to pick up their children from school have starting carpooling,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee released a data which said that even if the scheme is expected to have a positive effect on the capital’s air quality, the road to a decongested and pollution free Delhi are far from reality. The DPCC also said that the concrete assesments will be made only after a few working days with the car rationing scheme. The data released by DPCC is the ambient air quality index from 74 locations in and around the national capital.

A statement released by the Delhi police late on Saturday evening said that over 1,000 people were fined by the traffic police for violating odd-even norms on the second day of the second phase of the road-rationing formula. On the the first day of the scheme, 884 people were fined.

While 678 challans were issued by the Delhi traffic police, challans to as many as 324 persons were issued by the enforcement unit of the Delhi transport department, taking the total figure to 1,002, senior officials said. The highest number of challans were reported from South Delhi, closely followed by the western part of the city, with 202 and 142 challans respectively.