The move was among a slew of measure taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, after the national green tribunal pulled up the government for failing to curb air pollution. The curbs will also apply to two-wheelers and private cars entering the city from outside.

"This is the time for drastic measures. One also needs to keep in mind that it is for only two weeks after which we will review the situation," said deputy CM Manish Sisodia. The opposition called it a knee-jerk reaction.

While the move to ration road space is certain to inconvenience commuters and will be an implementation nightmare, it was hailed by environmentalists.

All steps announced after the meeting are to be implemented within a month to tide over the critical winter season, when pollution peaks in the city.

The traffic police, however, threw up its hands, saying it was not equipped to handle the logistics of implementing the odd-even number measure. Sisodia said the government would take the traffic police on board and work out the modalities with it.

"Every year in winter the pollution level goes up in Delhi. For the last several weeks, various departments have been working on abatement measures but despite that the situation in the past few days has been particularly critical. The CM took a meeting on Friday and based on various suggestions we have decided on a host of measures to improve the situation," said K K Sharma, Delhi chief secretary.

Emergency vehicles and public transport will be exempt from this rule though there is still no clarity on what happens in special cases. "We have formed a high level committee that will work out these details. There will be a review of the plans on December 8," said Ashish Khetan, chairperson of Delhi Dialogue Commission.

The plan, however, leaves several questions unanswered. For instance, Delhi lacks sufficient public transport with last mile connectivity a grey area. Thousands of people travel into the city from adjoining towns of Noida and Gurgaon. Enforcement of traffic rules is lax due to shortage of manpower. There is no clarity on how such a massive drive will be undertaken.

Officials say that as a first step, the Delhi Transport Corporation bus fleet shall be augmented for this period by hiring buses, and plying school buses during non-school hours. DTC will also increase the frequency of the service and operate for a longer period. Delhi Metro will also be requested to extend operation time in the late evening.

Another major decision is to write to NTPC for shutting down of the Badarpur thermal power plant. Sharma said that this plant, along with the Dadri thermal power plant in UP, were adding to Delhi's pollution. "For Badarpur we will write to NTPC while for Dadri, we will ask NGT to intervene. The closure will be for the critical period and we will ensure that Delhi will not face a power crisis in the meantime," said asenior government official.

The government also proposed to push back the time after which trucks can enter the city 10pm or 11pm. Currently, trucks can enter after 9pm. Pollution checking mechanisms will also be enforced strictly to ensure that all commercial vehicles have undergone compulsory PUC, the government said.

Times View

This paper has for years relentlessly red-flagged the growing health hazard of pollution which has today reached crisis proportions. Our editions of Thursday and Friday drove home the fact that Delhi was far more polluted than Beijing, and yet was doing little.

Dire situations require dire measures. Yet, we find it difficult to unequivocally welcome the Delhi government's proposal to allow only odd-numbered or even-numbered vehicles to ply on any given day. To the extent that it signals an acknowledgement that drastic steps are needed to clean up the capital's air and just incremental changes won't do the job, it is welcome. However, what is worrying is the uneasy feeling we are left with that it could be little more than a dramatic gesture and that it has not been fully thought through. Does Delhi, for instance, have the wherewithal to enforce such a scheme? Further, in the absence of adequate public transport, both within the city and from the city to its suburbs, is it realistic to suggest that people give up their private vehicles on half the days? Had this been preceded by an all-out push for expanding public transport, it would have been far more feasible than it now appears.