The initiative, undertaken by Ghaziabad Federation of RWAs, under the name 'Car-Free Day', found support from traffic department and district administration officials. Volunteers of the federation distributed flowers and pamphlets to car drivers across the city urging them to minimize the use of four-wheelers so as to rein in vehicular pollution.

However, unlike Delhi and Gurgaon, no stretches of roads within the city were marked for completely prohibiting entry of motorized vehicles.

The awareness drive was undertaken from 10 am till 12 noon, wherein 20 volunteers each of the federation positioned themselves at one intersection each in all five municipal zones of the city. The intersections where the drive was undertaken were near the CISF in Indirapuram zone, the Mohan Nagar crossing in Mohan Nagar zone, the Swadeshi intersection in Vijay Nagar zone, the Raj Nagar Extension intersection in Kavi Nagar zone and the Choudhury Morh in City zone.

"It was a symbolic gesture to spread awareness about abandoning the use of cars for one day of the month. There is no point in confining the promotion of public transport by abandoning cars in the national capital of Delhi alone. The initiative needs to be undertaken across the entire NCR since air pollution does not obey state boundaries. We have decided to undertake similar drives on the 10th of every month," said federation president Col (Retd) TP Tyagi.

The traffic department was not able to provide a figure as to how many vehicle-owners left their cars at home on Wednesday. "It will not be possible to compile an exact figure on the number of cars that kept off the roads on Wednesday. However, the federation has decided to undertake similar drives on the tenth of every month. We are planning to back this initiative and ensure that more cars remain off the roads next time," said Amar Singh, SP (Traffic), Ghaziabad.

Senior officials of the traffic department were seen pedaling their way through the streets on Wednesday along with federation volunteers to promote the initiative. The district administration also gave its consent to the federation on Wednesday to observe 'Car-Free Days' on the tenth of every month.

"Awareness drives will be undertaken by the administration to ensure people abandon using their cars for one day of the month. For March 10, the administration will ensure that all concerned departments, including transport and roadways, work in tandem to make the initiative successful. Alternative modes of transport had been worked out by the administration on Wednesday by asking the roadways to ply six additional metro feeder buses from different points of the city. The roadways is also planning to introduce pink autos, e-rickshaws and luxury buses in the city which is expected to suffice for transportation in lieu of private cars," said ADM (City) Preeti Jaiswal.