Odd-Even scheme: Public transport faces the real test on a working day

New Delhi: Crowded buses and metros marked the first few hours of the implementation of the ‘odd-even’ scheme today, while roads had cars with largely even-number registration plates and an augmented number of traffic police men and volunteers. The Delhi government yesterday announced a series of measures to meet the “real challenge” of the enforcement of the car rationing scheme on a full-fledged working day as part of which additional number of buses have been fielded. [caption id=“attachment_2567704” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The true mettle of the ‘Odd-even’ scheme gets tested on a working day. AFP[/caption] Indicating its willingness to clamp down on violators, the government asked the volunteers, comprising Civil Defence, NCC and NSS cadets, to take snaps of errant motorists and installed hidden cameras at various locations. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who has an odd-numbered car, cycled to office. He had done the same on Saturday. “Police teams are not only keeping vigil on cars plying on roads but also ensuring that autowallahs shouldn’t refuse to ply passengers. If they are on duty they can’t say no,” a traffic police official on-duty at Lajpat nagar told Firstpost. The government said that DTC would possibly ferry around 64 lakh commuters today, much more than the usual figures, while Metro is expected to carry 32 lakh commuters. Additional 100 teams of traffic police have been deployed to ensure the enforcement of the scheme that will stay in force till 15 January, on weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm. Besides, 66 teams of transport department which were working in two shifts of 33 teams each will be working from morning to evening and a special squad of 100 buses will give additional service in four zones with 25 buses each. Apart from this, 1,000 school buses of DTC have also been roped in, considering the natural escalation in number of commuters, transport Minister Gopal Rai said. Rai yesterday informed that there have been 567 challans so far by all the concerned agencies and 348 autos have been booked for refusing to ply. According to Hindustan Times, 200 challans were issued by Monday noon for non-compliance to the rule. MLA Kapil Mishra travelled to the Delhi Secretariat via public transport. He tweeted

गांधी नगर के लिए दो बसें बदलनी है। :) #oddevenmovement pic.twitter.com/NJ1eL34AV7

— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) January 4, 2016

On 24 December, the chief minister has said that violators of the odd-even rule will be fined Rs 2000 and greeted with roses. “About 10,000 NCC and NSS volunteers will offer roses to violators," Kejriwal said . Civil volunteers have also been asked to take photographs of violators, perhaps to embarrass the violators in a ‘gandhigiri’ style. VIPs, women drivers, CNG-certified vehicles, two-wheelers and those carrying the differently-abled are among the 25 categories which will be exempted from the scheme. The odd-even restrictions were imposed in Delhi to control the mounting levels of air pollution in the city. The restrictions are expected to continue till 15 January. with inputs from PTI