The Delhi government’s decision to impose curbs on private vehicles in the city from January was criticised both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The Delhi government’s decision to impose curbs on private vehicles in the city from January was criticised both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
BJP’s Maheish Girri, who represents the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, raised the issue during the Zero Hour and claimed the proposed scheme would “inconvenience lakhs of people.”
The BJP MP said waste-to-energy plants in Okhla, which were scheduled to be shut down by 2013, were a major source of pollution and emitted gasses that could cause cancer. However, he said, these plants still continued to function. The odd-and-even scheme would affect many poor people who use two-wheelers for work, he claimed.
In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs criticised the AAP government’s decision and dubbed it as “impractical and weird” and called for its reconsideration.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Upper House, Congress party Pramod Tiwari said it is an “arbitratory” and “impractical” decision that would cause major inconvenience to people in Delhi, which does not have robust public transportation system.
“This is a serious issue. We don’t want to see a law and order situation and the Government of India should issue an advisory on this,” he said, adding that other countries implemented such an idea after developing their public transport.
Mr Tiwari sought to know how this kind of idea could be implemented when the state has not improved basic public infrastructure.
Echoing his views, Congress MP Karan Singh described the proposal as a “very weird and unusual suggestion.”
“Something has to be done. This suggestion should be reconsidered and other alternatives should be thought about to address pollution.”
Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the House “the matter relates to the decision of the Delhi government. We have to address pollution. In theory, we accept it, but the suggestion is impractical.”
However, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh disagreed with his party colleagues on the issue, saying air pollution was a serious issue. There is “no harm in trying for some days,” he said.
