Just two days before the “odd-even” car restrictions will be implemented in the nation’s capital to reduce air pollution, the Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the AAP government to clarify why women and two-wheelers had been exempted from the 15-day scheme that comes into effect from January 1. The court also sought the Delhi education department’s response on a plea against its order to private unaided schools to provide their buses to be run as public transport while the scheme is being run.

As the city administration conducted a “dry run” on Wednesday to see if its mechanism was in place to ensure smooth implementation of the pilot project, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal warned volunteers, who will be deployed for the scheme, against “arguing or misbehaving” with people and to focus on “changing hearts” politely, such as by handing over flowers to violators. He also urged school students to convince their parents, relatives and friends to follow the scheme and to encourage them to opt for car-pooling, which the CM said he will himself do.

“If you see anyone violating the odd-even scheme, just roll down your car window and ask that person to go back home. If the same person gets 10 such remarks in a day, it would stir his conscience and persuade him to keep his car off the road,” MrKejriwal said, addressing students at RajkiyaPratibhaVikasVidyalaya in Delhi’s Civil Lines. Hundreds of schoolchildren took a pledge in the presence of the CM to fight pollution and convince their parents, relatives and friends to adhere to the odd-even scheme.

Saying 100 per cent result can’t be assured in any scheme, MrKejriwal said while there may be problems due to the inadequate numbers of buses and Metro trains, the air in Delhi had become “so poor” that there was no other way to improve it. Asked about the probability of people buying two cars to evade the scheme, the CM called it a “baseless claim” being propagated for the past few days. While the Congress raised questions over the Kejriwal government’s preparedness to implement the odd-even scheme, aski

ng if it was an “off-the-cuff decision” to divert media attention from the 400 per cent pay hike that Delhi MLAs had awarded themselves, the US embassy came out in support of the scheme, saying it will comply with the restrictions despite the exemption given to all vehicles with diplomatic numberplates. Saying the Delhi government’s plan was an effort to confront the city’s severe air pollution, the embassy said though cars with diplomatic plates were officially exempt from this policy, it will take nevertheless follow the scheme. The AAP government, on its part, issued orders banning the parking of odd-numbered non-transport four-wheeled vehicles (cars, etc) on even dates and even-numbered vehicles on odd days during the drive.

Earlier on Wednesday, a two-judge high court bench of Justices HimaKohli and Sunil Gaur asked the government counsel to get instructions on why an exemption had been granted to women motorists and to two-wheelers during the odd-even drive. Directing the Delhi government to submit data on pollution levels and vehicles plying during the scheme effective for 15 days starting January 1, the court, however, refrained from passing any interim order on a plea by Delhi resident KarunaChhatwal, who sought a direction to restrict the movement of cars driven by women drivers as well as two-wheelers.

It issued a notice to the Delhi government and asked it to file a status report within three days on her plea. On a plea by an advocate Rahul Aggarwal seeking an exemption for lawyers from the scheme, the bench said if it allowed them to use their vehicles, then the court would be flooded with petitions from doctors and others who had not been included in the list of 25 exempted categories. The court was hearing a petition that said two-wheelers emitted the maximum pollutants, contributing 60 per cent of the city’s air pollution, and cars contributed just a part of the remaining air pollution.