Odd-even plan passed litmus test: Gopal Rai

The road-rationing scheme passed its “litmus test” on Monday as contrary to the apprehensions odd numbered vehicles stayed off the roads on the first full working day of the New Year, the government said. Transport minister Gopal Rai, who took a bus ride from Delhi Secretariat and back via Delhi Gate, Connaught Place, Patel Chowk and ITO, expressed happiness that the people were following the scheme and faced no major hassles. He added that most of the violators were from outside Delhi.

“Monday was the day being deemed as the litmus test for odd-even scheme. But I had faith in the people of Delhi and also we had put in adequate arrangements so that citizens do not face any inconvenience. It was a major challenge, but the scheme has passed the test because of the will of Delhiites. They have given us their whole-hearted support to make this a success,” Mr Rai said.

Most of the violators were from outside Delhi, he said, noting that around 400 violators were challaned by the police and 109 violators by enforcement wing of the transport department and 68 autorickshaw drivers were challaned following complaints. He added 800 complaints were received by the helpline number launched by government and that around 2,500 people had downloaded the Poochho app till Monday.

Mr Rai stated that some elements were trying to “misguide people” and sabotage the scheme by circulating old and false pictures of an overcrowded Rajiv Chowk Metro station in social media and creating panic. “There were attempts to spread misinformation and misguide people by circulating old and false pictures of overcrowded Rajiv Chowk Metro station in social media. I spoke to Metro officials and took a feedback of 50 stations, and we were informed that the crowd today was less than the peak crowd recorded in December in the past and the picture which was posted was of October 22,” he said.

Mr Rai, who took a bus ride to take stock of roads, credited five people — people of Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi police and civil defence volunteers, Metro, DTC and cluster buses and the media for making the drive “a grand success”.

Mr Rai said the Delhi Metro had made all requisite arrangements and capacity was increased to carry 32 lakh commuters. Also 25 Metro monitoring teams have been working since morning.

The 15-day odd-even scheme started on January 1 and aims to put odd numbered vehicles on the roads on odd dates and even numbered vehicles on even dates. This takes effect daily from 8 am to 8 pm except on Sundays when the scheme is not operational. But the scheme has many exceptions including a string of VIPs, CNG-driven public transport, cars driven by women, two-wheelers and emergency vehicles.

Although many odd numbered cars were spotted on the roads on Monday, running on CNG or driven by women, the roads were still less crowded in the morning. Many regular Delhi Metro commuters did not find the metro extraordinarily crowded either.

“I found the Metro a bit more crowded than usual but it was not unmanageable as I was fearing it would be,” said Adnan Ali, who travels to work from Chandni Chowk to Noida City Centre.

But the situation was different on the Metro Violet Line which has only four-coach trains. “It was very crowded at Mandi House station. I had to jostle to get into the train and almost fell down as the crowd pushed me from behind,” complained Shweta Arya, who works with a private firm in Nehru Place.