New Delhi, Nov 10: The Delhi government on Friday said that it is postponing its plan to implement the odd-even scheme in the national capital amid a slight improvement in air quality.
The AAP government had earlier proposed that it would implement the scheme from November 13 to 20 amid worsening air quality. The car-rationing scheme has been introduced in the national capital thrice before due to bad air quality.
“An improvement is seen in the pollution level. The AQI which was 450+ has now reached around 300. The decision to implement odd-even from November 13 to 20 has been postponed. The situation would be analysed again after Diwali,” Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said.
Overnight rain led to a visible improvement in Delhi’s air quality on Friday morning after more than a week of hazardous pollution. At 7 am, Delhi’s AQI stood at 408, improving from 437 at 4 pm on Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier predicted a marginal improvement in air quality just ahead of Diwali owing to favourable meteorological conditions, including light rain.
Rai had earlier said the scheme will be implemented in the city after the Supreme Court reviews its effectiveness and issues an order.
However, the apex court had questioned the effectiveness of the Delhi government’s car-rationing scheme, aimed at curbing vehicular pollution, and referred to it as “all optics”.
On Friday, while hearing a matter relating to the debilitating air pollution in the Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court again questioned the odd-even rule and ordered authorities to put a stop to farm fires immediately.
“As per the report from amicus curiae, advocate assisting the court on the issue, odd-even does not help; it will have a minimal impact,” said a bench headed by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
The bench also observed that there were several reports and committees on the pollution issue, but nothing was happening at the ground level.
Introduced in 2016, the odd-even car rationing scheme permits cars to operate on alternate days based on their odd or even number plates.
