As the AAP government rolled out the ambitious odd-even scheme on Friday, it received mixed response from the political parties. While the BJP said it was done without adequate preparations while the Congress preferred to wait and watch before commenting on the road-rationing measure. The AAP termed it as a success “beyond expectations”.
Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said the scheme had “practical problems” in its implementation even as senior BJP leader and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi termed the move as a good start. “A good initiative, an effective and important step towards reducing pollution levels in Delhi,” Mr Naqvi said.
Expressing reservations over the scheme, Mr Upadhayay said there were “practical problems” in the scheme, which could have been discussed and ironed out before its implementation.
Citing his own experience, he said, “I have both odd and even numbered vehicles but when I received a call about an injured party worker, I could not move immediately as only even numbered vehicle was available while the odd numbered one was being used by my son. Finally, I called a friend but I was delayed half an hour in taking the worker to trauma centre.”
“Also, there are problems like women not allowed to drive along with say their male family members even if they do not know driving. Many drivers who were driving even numbered cars paid fine just because they had no availability of public transport to their workplaces,” he said.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken chose not to comment on the issue, saying that it is “too early” to speak about the scheme as it is only the first day of the 15-day implementation, which also includes an extended weekend, in the national capital. “Presently, there is an extended weekend in Delhi. Traffic on roads is thin and schools are closed. A large number of people are out of the city on new year,” the Congress leader said.“So, its too early to comment on success of the scheme,” he said.
