NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Saturday called off the odd-even scheme after the National Green Tribunal refused to accept the exemptions recommended for the plan.
"In light of the two conditions by NGT on 2 wheelers and women, at the moment we are calling it off. We will go back to NGT on Monday, file a review petition for them to reconsider their decision regarding the two," Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot said.
Gehlot said that the government is not ready "to compromise with the safety of women".
The Delhi government had announced the implementation of the odd-even car rationing scheme from November 13-17 to curb the rising levels of pollution in the state and adjoining areas.
However, the NGT on Saturday lashed out at the Delhi government for not taking enough steps to curb pollution. The green tribunal while approving the car rationing scheme removed all major exemptions as suggested by the state government. "Delhi government is free to implement the odd-even car rationing scheme with the subject to conditions. No exemption be given to anyone, including two-wheeler riders, in the odd-even scheme," a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar had said.
Delhi meanwhile continued to wrest with toxic air on Saturday as the level of pollutants were in the severe category for the fifth successive day. The US-based passenger carrier United Airlines temporarily suspended its Newark-IGI airport flights due to concerns over poor air quality in New Delhi.
Earlier in the day, the NGT gave the go ahead to the odd-even scheme from November 13-17 and said there will be no exemptions for women, two-wheelers and government vehicles.
The NGT, in its order, also said that in future the odd-even scheme should automatically come into force if the PM2.5 and PM10, particles in air with diameter less than 2.5 and 10mm respectively, go above the 300 and 500 units for 48 hours.
The tribunal directed that odd-even should be implemented "right away" without waiting for 48 hours, in case PM2.5 and PM10 go beyond 400 and 700 units respectively.
The odd-even traffic plan is among the remedies that has to come into force in accordance with the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to deal with air pollution.
The Centre-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) attributed the rise in pollution to the lowering of the "boundary layer" keeping pollutants trapped near the surface and preventing their escape into the upper layer of the atmosphere.
