Gurgaon in no position to roll out odd-even.This is why

The Times of India , Tuesday, October 03, 2017
Correspondent :
Gurgaon: Rolling out the odd-even road rationing scheme to reduce air pollution in the winter months as part of the graded response action plan (GRAP) may be an option for the Gurgaon administration this year, but residents and experts are sceptical about its implementation in the absence of adequate public transportation in the city. Currently, Gurgaon has only about 200 city buses.

Odd-even may kick in if PM2.5 level, a marker of air quality index, crosses the "severe" mark of 300 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m³) or PM10 level crosses 500g/m³, and persists for 48 hours.

Apart from the city buses, there are 24,000 autos in Gurgaon, of which 16,500 are "shared autos" which run on diesel and 7,500 CNG autos. Over one lakh people are dependent on these diesel autos — one of the major sources of air pollution — for their daily commute within Gurgaon, with the current fleet of buses and Rapid Metro being inadequate.

But with more than 3.5 lakh cars and some 4 lakh two-wheelers in the city, the majority of the population depends on private vehicles for their daily commute. Over 2.5 lakh cars, on the other hand, come from Delhi and other cities to Gurgaon every day. "Despite the fact that my office on Sohna Road is just six kilometres away from my home, I have been taking my car to work for the past six years. There is no proper public transport in the city. I can't travel in shared autos as they are extremely unsafe. It is absurd to even think of implementing the odd-even scheme in the city," said Suresh Bhadana, a resident of Sector 10.

Agreed Parikshit Dutt, another resident: "I work in Cyber City and live in Sector 56. Even though Rapid Metro connects Cyber City with Sector 56, there is no last mile connectivity to my home. There are no buses or diesel autos connecting Sector 56 with the Metro station. I can't think of commuting in Gurgaon without a private vehicle."

Even experts feel that the odd-even scheme should be the last resort of the authorities to curb pollution.

"There is no way Gurgaon can implement the odd-even scheme as there is no public transport in the city. Definitely, nobody is going to follow the scheme. It is better to put in place other measures, including stopping construction, proper checking of pollution certificates of vehicles and phasing out of diesel vehicles older than 10 years," said Niranjan Raje, former member of Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) that was formed by the Supreme Court to implement GRAP.

Authorities also accept the fact that implementation of the scheme in Gurgaon won't be an easy task.

"The odd-even scheme would definitely need a lot of consideration as it is not an easy decision. Our focus is, therefore, on phasing out diesel vehicles older than 10 years, strict vigilance, and enforcement of pollution under control (PUC) norms and construction norms to bring down dust pollution. As we have already geared up for the implementation of GRAP, we hope not to reach the emergency situation," deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh told TOI.

"Even though there is a clause for augmenting city buses by hiring them on contract in case of an emergency, the city is not in a state to implement the odd-even scheme as intensifying the city's public transport will definitely need some time. We are, therefore, working on enforcement of PUC norms, phasing out of diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and other norms so that air pollution remains under control in the winter," said an official of the regional transport authority.

 
SOURCE : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/gurgaon-in-no-position-to-roll-out-odd-even/articleshow/60917236.cms
 


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