Vehicles with odd and even number plates to ply on alternate days: Delhi govt

The move is planned to be rolled out from January 1, 2016.

New Delhi

: In a bid to curb pollution, the Delhi government on Friday proposed a move where cars with odd and even number plates would ply on roads on alternate days.

The move is planned to be rolled out from January 1, 2016.

If the plan falls in place, Delhi will become first such city in India to have such a scheme and the only one after Beijing in Asia.

Delhi has the highest air pollution in India. The situation becomes alarming during winters due to heavy smog.

Observing that the current air pollution levels, the Delhi High Court earlier on Thursday directed the Centre and city government to present comprehensive action plans to combat it.

A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva termed the action plans filed by the environment ministry and Delhi government as -"not comprehensive-" as they did not contain specific responsibilities of each authority and the timeline for carrying them out.

It directed them to file comprehensive action plans, which are the need of the hour, by the next date of hearing on December 21.

The court also said two major causes of air pollution in Delhi were dust particles and vehicular emissions and directed the Centre and city governments to ensure no construction of building or roads takes place without first ensuring that generation of dust was minimised.