Will move forward with 'Odd-Even vehicle' policy after SC's order on Friday, says Gopal Rai

New Delhi, IANS (Nov 8) Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government in Delhi will only move forward with implementing the ‘odd-even vehicle’ policy after the Supreme Court’s order on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said that the Delhi Government is preparing a report based on two studies that have been carried out to determine the effectiveness of the ‘odd-even vehicle’ policy in reducing air pollution.

He said that the policy will be implemented from November 13 only after the Supreme Court's order. "We will submit our report on the ‘odd-even vehicle’ scheme to the Supreme Court on Friday. Whatever the court decides, we will apprise the Lieutenant-Governor and then move forward," the minister said. He also said that the transport department has been asked to prepare a comprehensive report on App-based taxis coming to Delhi from bordering states.

"The court has ordered that we stop taxies coming from outside Delhi and ban orange-tagged vehicles. We will comply with the directions," he added.

Earlier the Delhi Government had announced that it would implement the ‘odd-even vehicle’ policy for allowing plying of vehicles in Delhi based on their registration number from November 13 to November 20.

On Tuesday, calling schemes like 'odd-even' to tackle air pollution issues mere 'optics', the Supreme Court directed the Delhi Government to control the entry of orange-tagged vehicles in the city.

The court further said that a large number of taxis in Delhi have registrations in different states that carry only one passenger.

The court asked that these should be monitored so that only Delhi taxis ply during the current period.

The top court also directed the Delhi Government to monitor and to ensure that Municipal Solid Waste is not burned in the city or in the open during this time period when GRAP IV is in place.