Odd-even scheme is back in Delhi

November 7, 2023

Updated: November 8, 2023

Odd-even scheme is back in Delhi

Digital News Guru Delhi Desk: The National Capital Territory (NCT) Delhi is suffering from severe air quality. According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) , the Air Quality Index at 4pm on Monday stood at 421 which is severe (AQI of 401 to 500 comes in severe category). Due to this, the Delhi government on Monday decided to implement the ‘odd-even‘ scheme for cars from 13- 20 November to keep vehicular emissions down.

The severe AQI which is recorded, came due to the number of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana which rose to 3230 and 109 and biomass burning also contributed to the Delhi’s air pollution which is approximately 20% on Sunday. Due to harmful impact of air pollution schools in Delhi are closed and will hold online classes, construction activities of roads and highways will stop and the entry of trucks also will stop in Delhi unless they are carrying important essentials like milk and vegetables.

Harmful impacts of air pollution: High levels of air pollution can cause a variety of adverse health outcomes, which will increase the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, trachea, and bronchitis. The most health-harmful pollutants closely associated with excessive premature mortality are fine PM2.5 particles that penetrate deep into lung passageways.

Contribution of farm fires to air pollution: Punjab and Haryana are the neighboring states of Delhi, where agriculture is the main source of income. Farm fires take place every year, which contributes to Delhi’s pollution. Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major cause of air pollution in regions like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue.

Farm fires reported in November constitute 56% of the total stubble-burning incidents in their season, as shown by the data. In both Delhi and Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party is in power, so the BJP has accused AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal of failing to tackle the pollution crisis in the national capital. A video of a group of farmers from Punjab is surfacing on social media, in which a group of farmers allegedly defied the orders of a farm fire prevention team. In the video, farmers could be heard saying that those who came to stop stubble burning were made to set the crop residue on fire.

Odd-even scheme:- This odd-even scheme was first introduced by the AAP government in Delhi in 2016 to control vehicular pollution, but due to the continued severe air quality in Delhi, the government has reintroduced it in the region. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has also directed the Delhi government to implement this scheme in order to control pollution. It will be in effect for one week starting from the day after Diwali.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced this at a press conference and also added a detailed action plan that will be developed in collaboration with Transport and the Traffic Police on Tuesday. In this scheme, vehicles with license plates ending with 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 will be allowed to operate on odd days, and vehicles with license plates ending with 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 will be allowed to operate on even days.

The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s measures on air pollutants:-

WHO’s main function is to identify and monitor those air pollutants with the greatest impact on people’s health. WHO Member States adopted in 2015 a resolution to “address the adverse health effects of air pollution”. The following year, Member States agreed on a road map for “an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution”. WHO is working on four pillars: